This weekend’s box office was less about surprises at the top and more about a scramble in the middle. Avatar: Fire and Ash continued to dominate. Some predictions landed cleanly. Others missed, and not by a little.
Avatar: Fire and Ash Rules the Chart Without Breaking a Sweat
Avatar: Fire and Ash kept its first place again with $64 million in its second weekend. That is a strong hold by any modern blockbuster standard, and it reinforces that this franchise operates on a different box office timeline than most releases. The conversation around whether this film opened “soft” last weekend is already becoming irrelevant. Cameron movies do not sprint; they outlast everything else in the marathon.
This is exactly the kind of second weekend number that works to stabilize the entire box office ecosystem, albeit temporarily. It does not crush everything underneath it, but it makes clear that anyone hoping for a quick collapse was kidding themselves.
Zootopia 2 Proves Staying Power Still Matters
Zootopia 2 pulled in $20 million in its fifth weekend, which is quietly one of the most impressive results on the chart. This movie is deep into its run on week 5, yet families are still showing up consistently. Disney did not just launch another animated hit; they launched another long-term performer, and those are far more valuable than front-loaded openings.
Marty Supreme Lands Right Where Expected
Marty Supreme finished the weekend with $15.6 million in its second frame, and this is one place where my forecasting largely held up. I projected a debut closer to $12 million, and while it slightly exceeded that trajectory overall, the movie is behaving exactly like a modest adult-skewing release should. Not a breakout, not a failure either, just steady interest.
The Housemaid Holds Its Ground
The Housemaid brought in $15.4 million in its second weekend, staying nearly neck and neck with Marty Supreme. That kind of hold suggests that the movie’s influencer-centric marketing is working. This was never a movie that was going to see a huge spike in viewership. The studio was hoping to avoid a sharp drop, and it succeeded.
For a thriller driven by curiosity and tension rather than spectacle, this is a healthy result and keeps it firmly in the conversation going into the next couple weeks.
Anaconda Falls Short of Lofty Expectations
The biggest miss of the weekend belongs to Anaconda. The film opened to $14.6 million, well below the $20 to $30 million range I projected, and nowhere near the high-end optimism that had it flirting with $30 million and a second-place finish.
This is a clear case where star power did not translate into urgency. Jack Black and Paul Rudd gave the marketing plenty of charm, but audiences did not treat this like a must-see theatrical event. Landing in the fifth spot instead of dominating the box office. This is not a sleeper hit in waiting; it is a modest opener that will likely drop out of the Top 5 relatively soon.
Next Week’s Predictions
The Dutchman is technically entering the box office, but there is no meaningful box office tracking to speak of, which tells you everything you need to know. This does not look like a release positioned to challenge the top of the chart, or even crack the Top Five. If it shows up at all, it will be on the margins.
Because of that, expect very little movement at the top. Avatar: Fire and Ash will remain firmly in control, and the rest of the Top Five should look more or less the same as this weekend. Any changes will come from internal reshuffling rather than a new title forcing its way into the conversation.
As always, we’ll find out next week.
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