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Major winter storms are catching a lot of the blame this weekend for people staying indoors and avoiding the frigid temperatures, but there was not a lot to entice audiences with in the first place. Unless moviegoers wanted to catch up with holiday leftovers or some of the fresh Oscar nominees, their new options consisted of what could be two of the worst-reviewed films of 2026. And we mean all the way through December.
King of the Crop: Mercy Dethrones Avatar: Fire and Ash
The stars and co-stars of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Mission: Impossible movies have a No. 1 movie again this week. Old hat to Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson, but for director Timur Bekmambetov, it is a first for him at the box office. Despite Wanted opening to over $50 million back in 2008, it was the same weekend as the vastly superior WALL-E from Pixar ($63 million). No. 1 eluded him even further with a $16.3 million fourth place opening for his Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in 2012 and his $11.2 million sixth place start for his 2016 remake of Ben-Hur.
Mercy nearly made as much as the latter, starting its run with $11.1 million. But in 2025, a critic score of 25% or under was good enough to make the bottom 10 among wide theatrical releases. Mercy right now is pulling a 21% on the Tomatometer — worse than the 34% for Abe the Vampire Guy and the 24% for Where’s Charlton Heston? Wanted is still his benchmark on the Fresh rating with a 72% and also among multiples (2.64) from start-to-final gross. His follow-up films, including the pandemic release of Profile, have all finished between 2.30-2.39. Mercy following in those tracks would finish between $25-27 million, which is not good news for a film reportedly in the $60 million budget range.
Tales of the top 10: Silent Hill Opens Quietly, Zootopia 2 Chases Minecraft
We can bunch up a number of films in the top 10 this week, and the first pairing is that of the all-time billion dollar successes. James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash ended its five-week run at the top of the box office, falling to second place with $7 million. That brings it to $378.4 million domestic at the end of its sixth weekend. Now over $1.37 billion, it ranks 19th on the all-time global chart and will be hitting $400 million domestic in the coming weeks. It is not the $600 million or $700 million domestic or two-billion plus of its predecessors, but who else in Hollywood has created a six-billion dollar trilogy?
Not even Zootopia 2 is going to reach those numbers with a third film, but that certainly has to be on the way after the $1.74 billion-plus of the sequel. The film can take solace in the fact that it may be impossible for Fire and Ash to catch it on either front individually, but Zootopia 2 continues to chase A Minecraft Movie to be the No. 1 domestic film of 2025. Another $5.7 million in its ninth weekend has it joining the $400 million club. Minecraft was down to just $765,693 in weekend nine and $422.9 million overall. Zootopia 2 just needs to keep itself in the millions each week and Minecraft won’t sleep well as it creeps up on its crown. Zootopia 2 is ninth all time globally and is now in the top 50 of all time domestically. That third film can’t get here soon enough for Disney.
Next up a tale of two “R”-rated successes. The Housemaid continues to be one of those classic word-of-mouth successes we love to report on for theaters. After a modest opening of $19 million, it just keeps trucking forward. Another $4.2 million in its sixth weekend brings its total to $115.4 million domestic and over $217 million worldwide. That puts the film just a smidge behind the $130-135 million finish Patch Adams was suggesting; that’s more than six times above its opening. It already has the best multiple for a film opening in wide release, passing Sinners this week, which had a 5.71 with a much higher start of $48 million. Big congrats to Lionsgate and The Housemaid, though, and best of luck with the sequel.
Additional congrats to A24 and Marty Supreme, which racked up nine Oscar nominations on Thursday. It is the second-highest grossing domestic Best Picture candidate after Sinners and added $3.5 million to its now $86.2 million total. A24 would love to still hit that $100 million in the coming weeks, likely leading up to Timothée Chalamet’s first Oscar. The film is officially over $105 million globally.
A tale of three horror tales in the top 10 are next up, starting with last week’s disappointing start to 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Things were not much better in its second weekend as it fell over 71% to fifth place with $3.6 million for a total of $20.7 million. We were using The Forest to compare Primate last week, and the numbers look even worse for Bone Temple as Forest had $21.3 million after a $5.9 million second go. That film dropped over 70% for its next three weeks, which has not happened with Primate but sure did here. That pattern would put Temple in the $25 million range. It is over $46 million worldwide. Not great news for the $63 million production. Primate, meanwhile, made $1.6 million in its third weekend, putting it at $23.5 million and over $30 million worldwide.
Certainly better numbers than Return to Silent Hill. Christophe Gans’ original adaptation of the video game came out in April 2006 and opened to $20.1 million, finishing with $46.9 million. Six years later, Silent Hill: Revelation began with $8 million just before Halloween and ended up with just $17.5 million. Gans has now returned to Silent Hill. Critics only got to see it if they knew who to contact, and those who did have rewarded it with a 16% on the Tomatometer. In 1,850 theaters, audiences paid for just $3.2 million in tickets, and it’s a wonder any of them were even aware it was coming out.
We close out the top 10 with a pair of Oscar nominees, one of them from this year and the other from 2001. The first would be The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring hanging around for a second weekend in its re-issue, making another $2 million for a total to date of $5.9 million. (Both The Two Towers and The Return of the King each grossed $1.6 million as well.) Back into the top 10 on Oscar nom week is Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet. After receiving eight nominations, the Best Picture contender and favorite to win Best Actress also grossed $2 million to bring its total up to $17.6 million domestic and $42 million worldwide.
Beyond the Top 10: Anaconda Slithers Down After Solid Run
Closing out a decent holiday run in the top 10 is the redux of Anaconda, making $1.3 million. That brings its total to just over $62 million, and with that total being doubled overseas, Sony has a decent little hit to close out 2025, even if The Bone Temple did not start the new year well. Sony’s release of Clika this weekend in 522 theaters made $1.27 million.
Ric Roman Waugh’s Greenland 2: Migration has just not attracted the audience needed to recoup a $90 million budget. A 72% drop to just $950,000 this weekend brings its 17-day total to just $16.8 million. Continue reading for more on the try, try again. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants is just under $70 million. Kate Hudson’s Oscar nomination for Song Sung Blue didn’t help much (nor did it being on VOD already), as it made $800,000 for a total of over $37 million. No Oscar nominations for Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice may have put an end to its expansion. It lost 15 theaters this weekend and fell 67% down to $735,000. But at over $8.3 million it is the director’s highest-grossing domestic release to date.
On the Vine: Island Thrills and Statham Action
Clear the decks because there is a new Sam Raimi film coming to theaters. Rachel McAdams turns the tables on her boss Dylan O’Brien on a desert island in Send Help, which should lead the box office with little effort. After the failed release of Christy last November, Black Bear gives it a go with Jason Statham in Shelter from the director of Greenland 2.
Full List of Box Office Results: January 23-25, 2026
- Mercy – $11.1 million ($11.1 million total)
- Avatar: Fire and Ash – $7.0 million ($378.4 million total)
- Zootopia 2 – $5.7 million ($401.4 million total)
- The Housemaid – The Housemaid – $4.2 million ($115.4 million total)
- 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – $3.6 million ($20.7 million total)
- Marty Supreme – $3.5 million ($86.2 million total)
- Return to Silent Hill – $3.2 million ($3.2 million total)
- Hamnet – $2.0 million ($17.6 million total)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Re-Release) – $2.0 million ($5.9 million total)
- Primate – $1.6 million ($23.5 million total)
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
Thumbnail image by Justin Lubin/©Amazon MGM Studios
English (US) ·