At a Glance
- Avatar: Fire and Ash rules the box office for a fifth straight weekend with $13.3 million
- 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple debuts at No. 2 with $13 million, well below $20 million expectations
- Zootopia 2 becomes the highest-grossing MPA animated release ever, crossing $1.7 billion globally
- Why it matters: January horror sequels face tough crowd after rapid-fire releases and high production costs
James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash kept its crown over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day frame, while the horror sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple stumbled despite strong reviews and a wave of pre-release hype.
Avatar Stays on Top
Avatar: Fire and Ash collected an estimated $13.3 million from Friday through Sunday, pushing its domestic haul past the $300 million mark. Disney projects the sci-fi epic will reach $17.2 million through Monday’s holiday, extending its streak to five consecutive weekends at No. 1.
Internationally, the film continues to pull solid numbers, though Sunday’s studio report focused on North American totals.
Bone Temple Falls Short
Sony’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple entered 3,506 theaters with a 93% Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score and 72% of PostTrak audiences saying they would “definitely recommend” the picture. Yet ticket sales topped out at $13 million through Sunday and are expected to hit $15 million through Monday-still trailing Avatar and far below the $20 million benchmark that trackers had forecast.
Shot on a $63 million production budget before marketing, the Nia DaCosta-directed chiller stars Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell. Overseas, it added $16.2 million from 61 markets.
The quick-turn sequel arrives only seven months after 28 Years Later opened to $30 million in June. Jordan M. Lewis noted that the rapid release pattern may have blunted demand.
> “It’s one of those head-scratchers,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Comscore. “There may be a little bit of confusion from audiences. But word-of-mouth might sustain it in this marketplace, like we saw with The Housemaid and Zootopia 2.”
Zootopia 2 Makes History
Disney’s Zootopia 2 slipped to third domestically with $8.8 million, yet the toon continues to rewrite record books. Global grosses now stand at $1.7 billion, making it the top-grossing animated release ever under the Motion Picture Association banner. (China’s Ne Zha 2, at $2.2 billion, sits outside MPA rankings.)
The police-procedural sequel is now the ninth biggest global release of all time, unadjusted for inflation.
Lionsgate’s Low-Budget Juggernaut
The Housemaid held fourth place with $8.5 million, lifting its worldwide tally to nearly $250 million-a stunning multiple of its $35 million production cost. The psychological thriller has shown sturdy legs since launching last autumn.
A24 Re-Writes Record Book
Marty Supreme rounded out the top five, adding $5.5 million and pushing A24’s domestic total to $79.7 million. That makes Josh Safdie’s mid-century sports drama the indie label’s highest-grossing North American release, toppling Everything Everywhere All at Once. Awards chatter could deliver another bump after Oscar nominations are unveiled Thursday.
Middle-Earth Re-Issue
Fathom Events’ remastered runs of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers claimed seventh and tenth positions. The Fellowship reaped $3.6 million, while Two Towers added $2.4 million, proving enduring appetite for Tolkien on the big screen.
Awards Contender Expands
Focus Features widened Hamnet to 718 locations following Golden Globe victories for best drama and best female actor (Jessie Buckley). The literary period piece earned $1.3 million through Sunday and remains in the Oscar conversation.
Franchise Future
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, who launched the zombie saga with 2002’s 28 Days Later, are already developing a third installment, keeping the post-apocalyptic narrative on track for a potential trilogy capper.
Box Office Top 10 (Fri-Sun)
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Avatar: Fire and Ash | $13.3 million |
| 2 | 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple | $13.0 million |
| 3 | Zootopia 2 | $8.8 million |
| 4 | The Housemaid | $8.5 million |
| 5 | Marty Supreme | $5.5 million |
| 6 | Primate | $5.0 million |
| 7 | Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship | $3.6 million |
| 8 | Greenland 2: Migration | $3.4 million |
| 9 | Anaconda | $3.2 million |
| 10 | Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | $2.4 million |
Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday, according to Comscore data cited by News Of Philadelphia.
Key Takeaways
- Avatar: Fire and Ash shows rare staying power in the streaming era, five-peating without a superhero cape in sight.
- Bone Temple’s under-performance underscores the risk of rushed sequels, even when critics cheer.
- Zootopia 2 proves family audiences will return in force if the story resonates globally.
- Low-budget thrillers like The Housemaid can still break out when concept and marketing align.
- Classic re-issues remain a reliable counter-programming tool for specialty distributors.
The January box office now pivots toward Valentine’s Day titles and the looming Oscar bounce for year-end prestige films.
