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Hollywood ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ is a box office hit, and Timothée Chalamet’s ‘Marty Supreme’ capped a tumultuous year with a bang at the box office during a busy holiday weekend for movie theaters.
As expected, James Cameron’s latest trip Pandora Box office receipts during the four-day period from Christmas to Sunday were $88 million, and $64 million over the weekend, the studio estimated Sunday. Although “Fire and Ashes” initially opened significantly lower domestically than its 2022 predecessor “Avatar: The Path of Water,” it performed better in its second weekend. It’s down just 28%, while “Aquatic” is down 53%.
In two weeks, “Fire and Ashes” quickly raised $217.7 million at the box office for The Walt Disney Company in North America. But the film, which had a budget of $400 million, has attracted huge international attention, with overseas box office receipts of $542.7 million to date. In order to reach the box office heights of its predecessors (both of which rank among the highest-grossing blockbusters of all time), “Fire and Ashes” will need to sustain business through the New Year and early January. If that happens, “Avatar” could become the first three-part film series worth $2 billion.
But much of the Christmas and weekend theater buzz came from A24’s biggest-budget film, Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie’s 1950s-set table tennis drama, which took in $27.1 million over the four-day weekend, a huge hit for the independent studio.
Chalamet went to great lengths to promote the critically acclaimed album, including an appearance at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The strong opening proved that the 30-year-old star has appeal beyond that of most of his contemporaries, and marked a rare box office victory for a completely original film. Safdie’s film carries a price tag of about $70 million.
“Marty Supreme” even beat out the film most analysts expected to be No. 2: Sony Pictures’ “Monty Python.” The big-screen comedy starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd took in $23.7 million over the four-day holiday weekend. That’s still a good thing for comedies, a genre that most studios have abandoned in recent years. But “Anaconda” (50% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) was undoubtedly hurt by negative reviews.
Hollywood is set to end the year with its best Christmas box office since before the COVID-19 pandemic, a final point of celebration in a difficult year for the film industry. Going into this year, expectations were high that the industry would be unaffected by a pandemic or strikes for the first time this decade.
“It’s really a solid end to a tumultuous year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst. Comsk. “It’s been a roller coaster ride. I think it’s the best news for the industry – I know we say this every year – but if you look at the 2026 lineup, it’s pretty incredible.”
But this year’s domestic box office revenue is roughly in line with 2024’s disappointing $8.75 billion. With three days left in 2025, the box office total is $8.76 billion, according to Comscore. This compares to $11.4 billion in 2019.
It’s a worrying development for movie theaters, which are now nervously watching Netflix attempt to acquire one of Hollywood’s most prominent studios, Warner Bros. The highest-grossing film this year was “Nezha 2,” a Chinese-produced film that grossed $2 billion. The most viewed movie of 2025 is KPop Demon Hunters Sony Pictures Sold to Netflix. Even the Oscars will be on YouTube.
What works in 2025? PG rated movie. For the second year in a row, PG-rated movies outnumbered PG-13-rated movies. Domestically, PG movies took in $2.87 billion, while PG-13 movies took in $2.78 billion, according to Comscore.
Hollywood’s three major blockbusters are all PG-rated: “Zootopia 2” (global box office $1.42 billion), “Lilo and Stitch” (global $1.04 billion) and “Minecraft: The Movie” (global $958.2 million).
Zootopia 2 even outranked newcomers on traditional weekends. In its fifth week of release, it earned another $20 million. Disney became the first studio to top $6 billion at the global box office since 2019, driven by “Zootopia 2,” “Lilo and Stitch” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
However, expectations for a box office rebound in 2026 are already growing. Major upcoming releases include “Super Mario Galaxy The Movie,” “Spider-Man: New Day,” the live-action “Moana,” “Toy Story 5” and “The Mandalorian and Grogu.”
The following week, with schools closed and many people off work, should be one of the busiest weeks of the year for theaters. Apart from the top films, several other films are also hoping to cash in on it.
These include Lionsgate’s Paul Feig thriller “Maid,” starring Sidney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried ($46.7 million in two weeks); Angel Studios’ animated “David and Goliath” ($49.8 million in two weeks); Paramount Pictures’ “The Spongebob Movie: The Search for Squarepants” ($38.2 million in two weeks); and Focus Features’ “Song Sung” Blue》.
“Song Sung Blue” may be especially suitable for strong legs. The Craig Brewer-directed film, starring Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman as members of Neil Diamond’s cover band, debuted over the holiday weekend and grossed $12 million in four days. Audience ratings (CinemaScore “A”) are outstanding.
Top 10 domestic box office movies
With final domestic data released on Monday, the list takes into account projected ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, according to Comscore:
1. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $64 million.
2. “Zootopia 2”, $20 million.
3. “Marty Supreme,” $17.5 million.
4. “The Handmaiden,” $15.4 million.
5. “Anaconda,” $14.6 million.
6. “David,” $12.7 million.
7. “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: The Search for Cube Pants,” $11.2 million.
8. “Song Sung Blue,” $7.6 million.
9. “Wicked: Forever,” $5.3 million.
10. “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” $4.4 million.