Key Takeaways
Total 3-Day Weekend Gross:
$98,603,106 | -25.3% Last Week / +20.4% Weekend 2, 2025
For the second frame in 2026 we are once again ahead of the 2025 game from this time last year, with Avatar once again carrying the lion’s share of more than a quarter of overall earnings. Paramount’s Primate managed to distinguish itself in second place as a solid horror programmer with $11.3M, fanned by tremendous social media and word-of-mouth push, while holiday holdovers continue to do well into the New Year.
- Top Title: Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century) | $21.3M / 3700 Screens / $5,757 PSA | Week 4
- Top Opener: Primate (Paramount) | $11.3M / 2,964 Screens / $3,812 PSA | Week 1
- Best PSA: All That’s Left Of You (Watermelon) | $56K / 2 Screens / $28,037 PSA | Week 1
1. Avatar: Fire and Ash
20th Century Studios | Week 4
$21.3M 3-Day Weekend | $342.6M Domestic Total
$1.23B Global Total
20th Century’s Avatar: Fire and Ash has topped the box office for the fourth frame in a row, the first film to do so consecutively since Barbie in 2023. It earned $21.3M from 3,700 screens (-135) for a $5,757 PSA, taking its domestic total to $342.6M which shoots the threequel past Wicked: For Good ($341.7M) and Jurassic World Rebirth ($339.6M) to become the fifth biggest domestic earner of 2025. It will next take down Superman ($354.2M) before likely surpassing Zootopia 2 ($378.8M) by next weekend.
Here’s how the 3-Day looked…
- Friday – $5.1M
- Saturday – $9.8M
- Sunday – $6.4M
Overseas Avatar 3 continued from strength to strength by raking in $65.6M from 52 material territories for an international total of $888M. The Top 3 territories are China ($148.6M), France ($91.7M), and Germany ($73.7M), while the global IMAX tally is now at $159M. The global total has now hit $1.23B, maintaining third place standing on the 2025 global charts and still under #2 Zootopia 2 ($1.65B). That animated film’s $600M+ China grosses show a distinct advantage over Avatar, with the third Cameron film lagging behind The Way of Water in the Middle Kingdom ($245.99M). It launched into its final major market Hong Kong this week with $2.3M including previews.
2. Primate
Paramount Pictures | NEW
$11.3M 3-Day Opening Weekend | $13.4M Global Total
Even with a slew of holdovers and two new wide releases going head-to-head against each other, Paramount’s simian horror flick Primate managed to perform above expectations with $11.3M over the weekend from 2,964 screens for a $3,812 PSA. With a solid 87% on Rotten Tomatoes critical, the studio went above and beyond to build word-of-mouth via an early Fantastic Fest premiere, special mic-ed and filmed audience reaction screenings, TikTok influencer screenings, and making this the Monday Mystery Movie at AMC, Regal, and Cinemark chains.
Paramount knew they had the goods with this one, although CinemaScore was a “B-.” This opening is in line with last year’s horror debuts of I Know What You Did Last Summer ($12.75M), Wolf Man ($10.89M), and ME3GAN 2.0 ($10.2M) without any of the IP recognition.
Here’s how the 3-Day looked, including $1.4M in Thursday previews…
- Friday – $4.56M
- Saturday – $4.1M
- Sunday – $2.6M
Primate posted strong showings in South Central and Western United States, with the most over-performing urban markets being Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. Audiences were 56% male /44% female, with the strongest single age bracket being 18-24 at 33%.
Here’s how demographics looked…
- 43% Caucasian
- 30% Hispanic
- 19% Black
- 5% Asian
- 3% Other
Overseas Primate opened in its first 26 international markets, representing only 20% of the planned global footprint. It made $2.1M including paid previews, with the Top 3 territories being Mexico ($925K),
Peru ($220K), and Colombia ($110K). The global total is $13.4M.
Other Notable Performances
Lionsgate’s Greenland 2: Migration opened below our forecast at an estimated $8.5M at #5 on the charts. Although Gerard Butler starrer Den of Thieves: Pantera acquitted itself well during its $15M take in this same frame last year, the IP was the liability this time around since the first film skipped North American theaters in 2020.
Next Weekend
In the coming frame we get the first major contender of 2026 with Sony’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, a direct sequel to last year’s 28 Years Later ($70.4M domestic) and the fourth film in the zombie series overall. With Avatar halving its grosses week-to-week, it will not take much for the new 28 Years to reach the top, even if it opens to considerably less than its predecessor ($30M).
Sunday Studio Estimates | Weekend 2 – 2026
Total 3-Day Domestic Gross: $98,603,106 | (+20.4% vs 2025)
| Title | Weekend Estimate | % Change | Locations | Location Change | PSA | Domestic Total | Week | Distributor |
| Avatar: Fire and Ash | $21,300,000 | -49% | 3,700 | -135 | $5,757 | $342,590,528 | 4 | 20th Century |
| Primate | $11,300,000 | 2,964 | $3,812 | $11,300,000 | 1 | Paramount | ||
| The Housemaid | $11,200,000 | -26% | 3,123 | 53 | $3,586 | $94,154,153 | 4 | Lionsgate |
| Zootopia 2 | $10,100,000 | -48% | 3,200 | -85 | $3,156 | $378,844,584 | 7 | Disney |
| Greenland 2: Migration | $8,500,000 | 2,710 | $3,137 | $8,500,000 | 1 | Lionsgate | ||
| Marty Supreme | $7,633,062 | -39% | 2,512 | -375 | $3,039 |
$70,133,369 |
4 | A24 |
| Anaconda | $5,100,000 | -49% | 3,075 | -434 | $1,659 | $54,273,000 | 3 | Sony |
| The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants | $3,800,000 | -54% | 2,567 | -650 | $1,480 | $63,631,000 | 4 | Paramount |
| David | $3,087,465 | -60% | 2,475 | -425 | $1,247 | $75,174,492 | 4 | Angel Studios |
| Song Sung Blue | $3,000,000 | -49% | 2,262 | -443 | $1,326 | $31,147,000 | 3 | Focus Features |
| Is This Thing On? | $2,400,000 | 889% | 1,475 | $1,627 | $3,529,924 | 4 | Searchlight | |
| No Other Choice | $1,332,500 | 33% | 147 | 102 | $9,065 | $3,698,737 | 3 | Neon |
| I Was a Stranger | $1,214,826 | 1,400 | $868 | $1,214,826 | 1 | Angel Studios | ||
| Wicked: For Good | $950,000 | -71% | 1,142 | -743 | $832 | $341,763,000 | 8 | Universal |
| Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 | $870,000 | -68% | 1,032 | -954 | $843 | $126,925,000 | 6 | Universal |
| Hamnet | $580,000 | -23% | 232 | -80 | $2,500 | $12,873,000 | 7 | Focus Features |
| We Bury the Dead | $371,885 | -85% | 851 | -321 | $437 | $3,540,162 | 2 | Vertical |
| Father, Mother, Sister, Brother | $343,827 | 601% | 253 | 249 | $1,359 | $552,704 | 3 | MUBI |
| The Secret Agent | $165,000 | -22% | 116 | -1 | $1,422 | $2,171,451 | 7 | Neon |
| Eternity | $85,733 | -53% | 68 | -54 | $1,261 | $16,115,223 | 7 | A24 |
| The Chronology of Water | $75,000 | 37 | $2,027 | $105,755 | 6 | The Forge | ||
| All That’s Left Of You | $56,074 | 2 | $28,037 | $56,074 | 1 | Watermelon | ||
| Sentimental Value | $53,100 | -41% | 68 | -2 | $781 | $4,147,085 | 10 | Neon |
| Resurrection | $44,000 | -64% | 39 | -36 | $1,128 | $458,873 | 5 | Janus Films |
| The Testament of Ann Lee | $39,000 | -47% | 4 | n/c | $9,750 | $356,476 | 3 | Searchlight |
| The Plague | $34,460 | -91% | 140 | -450 | $246 | $652,000 | 3 | IFC |
| Magellan | $28,300 | 2 | $14,150 | $28,300 | 1 | Janus Films | ||
| It Was Just an Accident | $26,000 | -12% | 15 | n/c | $1,733 | $1,718,302 | 13 | Neon |
| Predator: Badlands | $14,000 | -75% | 30 | -20 | $467 | $91,068,992 | 10 | 20th Century |
| OBEX | $9,839 | 1 | $9,839 | $9,839 | 1 | Oscilloscope | ||
| Ella McCay | $6,000 | -83% | 30 | -85 | $200 | $4,030,851 | 5 | 20th Century |
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