Hollywood starts 2026 with 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' No. 1, as James
Cameron's sci-fi epic crosses $1B
[January 05, 2026]
By JAKE COYLE
NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood kicked off 2026 with “Avatar: Fire and Ash”
atop the box office for the third straight week and with hopes for a
blockbuster-filled year after a disappointing 2025.
In three weeks of release, “Fire and Ash” has cleared $1 billion
worldwide. The third chapter in James Cameron’s Pandora epic collected
$40 million over its third weekend in North American theaters, according
to studio estimates Sunday.
“Fire and Ash” is doing its biggest business overseas; it’s grossed
$777.1 million internationally thus far. The Walt Disney Co. on Sunday
trumped the $1 billion milestone as “cementing another monumental
achievement for James Cameron’s groundbreaking franchise.”
But over the holidays, it wasn’t just about the weekend ticket sales.
The whole week was a lucrative one for Hollywood, with most schools
still out. What drove ticket sales, beyond “Avatar”? Sydney Sweeney,
Timothée Chalamet and “Zootopia 2.”
The most sustained success over the holiday collider in theaters
belonged to a movie that opened all the way back in November. Yet
Disney’s “Zootopia 2” has had remarkable staying power. It landed in
second place with $19 million, dipping a mere 4% from the previous
weekend.
The animated sequel has amassed $1.59 billion in six weeks. That makes
“Zootopia 2” Disney’s second highest grossing animated movie ever,
trailing only 2019’s photorealistic “The Lion King” ($1.66 billion).
“The Housemaid,” the twisty thriller starring Sweeney and Amanda
Seyfried, also emerged as a holiday-season hit for Lionsgate. It
collected $14.9 million over the weekend, giving it $75.7 million
domestically over three weeks. It dipped only 3% from last weekend.
Internationally, “The Housemaid,” which cost a modest $35 million to
make, has added $57.3 million.
Just as Sweeney’s star power is propelling “The Housemaid,” so is
Chalamet’s with “Marty Supreme.” The A24 release also held well in its
third weekend, grossing an estimated $12.6 million. After two weeks of
wide release, Josh Safdie’s frenetic table tennis tale has grossed $56
million in North America, passing the director’s previous film, “Uncut
Gems” ($50 million worldwide).
Just about everything playing in theaters saw small drops from the
previous weekend. Sony’s action comedy “Anaconda,” starring Jack Black
and Paul Rudd, dipped 31% to collect $10 million in second weekend.
Focus Features’ “Song Sung Blue” dropped only 17% in its second weekend
with $5.9 million. The Hugh Jackman-Kate Hudson Neil Diamond cover band
movie has earned $25 million domestically.
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Josh Safdie, left, and Timothee Chalamet, with the spotlight actor
of the year award for "Marty Supreme," pose in the press room during
the 37th Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards on
Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 at Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm
Springs, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
 With “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and a
wide variety of smaller hits, Hollywood started 2026 strongly.
Overall sales were up 26.5% from the same weekend in 2025, according
to data firm Comscore.
The movie industry is coming off a poor 2025, where domestic
moviegoing continued to slide. U.S. and Canada ticket sales in 2025
amounted to $8.9 billion, a 2% increase from the year earlier,
according to Comscore, but about 20% below pre-pandemic levels. That
slight improvement was notably less than anticipated and was also
boosted by higher ticket prices. Actual tickets sold declined from
more than 800 million in 2024 to around 780 million in 2025.
The industry is now awaiting a potentially seismic shift with Warner
Bros., one of the most theatrical-friendly studios, agreeing to sell
to Netflix. That $83 billion deal awaits regulatory approval.
Yet studios are cautiously optimistic 2026 could be the best
box-office year of the decade. A release slate filled with marquee
franchises, including new “Toy Story,” “Avengers,” “Spider-Man,”
“Super Mario Bros” and “Dune” movies, has raised hopes of a
turnaround.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors
in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and
Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $40 million.
2. “Zootopia 2,” $19 million.
3. “The Housemaid," $14.9 million.
4. “Marty Supreme,” $12.6 million.
5. “Anaconda,” $10 million.
6. “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants,” $8.2 million.
7. “David,” $8 million.
8. “Song Sung Blue,” $5.9 million.
9. “Wicked: For Good,” $3.3 million.
10. “Five Nights at Freddy's 2,” $2.7 million.
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