Hollywood began 2026 with atop the box office for the third consecutive week, holding hopes for a year filled with blockbusters after a disappointing 2025.
In three weeks of release, “Fire and Ash” has reached $1 billion globally. The third installment in gathered $40 million during its third weekend in North American theaters, as per studio estimates on Sunday.
“Fire and Ash” is achieving its greatest success overseas; it has amassed $777.1 million internationally thus far. The Walt Co. on Sunday surpassed the $1 billion milestone, stating it as “solidifying another monumental accomplishment for James Cameron’s groundbreaking franchise.”
However, during the holidays, it wasn’t just about weekend ticket sales. The entire week was profitable for Hollywood, with most schools still closed. What drove ticket sales, beyond “Avatar”? , Timothée Chalamet, and “Zootopia 2.”
The most enduring success during the holiday period in theaters belonged to a movie that premiered as early as November. Yet Disney’s has demonstrated remarkable staying power. It landed in second place with $19 million, dropping only 4% from the previous weekend.
The animated sequel has accumulated $1.59 billion in six weeks. This makes “Zootopia 2” Disney’s second highest-grossing animated movie ever, trailing only 2019’s photorealistic “The Lion King” ($1.66 billion).
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, bringing its domestic total to $75.7 million over three weeks. It decreased only 3% from last weekend. Internationally, “The Housemaid,” which cost a relatively modest $35 million to produce, has added $57.3 million.
Just as Sweeney’s star power is boosting “The Housemaid,” Chalamet’s is having the same effect on . The A24 release also held up well in its third weekend, grossing an estimated $12.6 million. After two weeks of wide release, Josh Safdie’s energetic table tennis story has earned $56 million in North America, surpassing the director’s previous film, ($50 million worldwide).
Nearly every movie in theaters experienced small drops from the previous weekend. Sony’s action comedy “Anaconda,” starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd, dropped 31% to collect $10 million in its second weekend. Focus Features’ 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.
With “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and a variety of smaller successes, 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 emerging from , where domestic movie attendance continued to decline. U.S. and Canada ticket sales in 2025 totaled $8.9 billion, a 2% increase from the previous year, according to Comscore, but approximately 20% below pre-pandemic levels. That slight improvement was notably less than expected and was also driven by higher ticket prices. The actual number of tickets sold decreased from over 800 million in 2024 to around 780 million in 2025.
The industry is now awaiting a potentially significant shift with Warner Bros., one of the most theater-friendly studios, . That $83 billion deal awaits regulatory approval.
Yet studios are cautiously optimistic that 2026 could be the best box-office year of the decade. A release schedule filled with major franchises, including new “Toy Story,” “Avengers,” “Spider-Man,” “Super Mario Bros” and “Dune” movies, has raised hopes for a turnaround.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released on Monday, this list takes into account the estimated ticket sales from 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.