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Over the MLK weekend, Avatar: Fire and Ash held up the top spot for the fifth week in a row. The weekend's other release, 28 Years: The Bone Temple greatly disappointed in its debut, albeit it's not a surprising result. Some films reached major milestones, including Marty Supreme, which became A24's biggest film domestically while also crossing $100 million worldwide.

The Top 10 earned a combined $68.4 million this weekend. That's down 1.4% from last year, when One of Them Days succeeded and Wolf Man flopped.

Staying on top for the fifth week in a row, Avatar: Fire and Ash dipped 33% for a $14.4 million weekend ($17.9 million four-day). The film has now earned $364 million. Currently, the gap between this and The Way of Water keeps growing, as it's now $203.5 million behind that film through the same point. The film should hit $400 million, but it really looks like it won't dethrone A Minecraft Movie ($424 million) as the biggest domestic title of 2025.

Debuting in second place, Sony's 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple disappointed with a weak $12.5 million ($14.4 million four-day) in 3,506 theaters. This is a steep 59% drop from 28 Years Later ($30 million), and it's only slightly ahead of the first two films. Adjusted for inflation, the film opened with less tickets than any prior film.

Given its hefty $63 million budget, this is a very disappointing start. But not a completely surprising result. While 28 Years Later benefited from the 18-year-old gap since the prior film and broke even at the box office, it was clear that it had a ceiling at the box office. Despite growing in popularity, the franchise hasn't exploded enough to rank as one of the biggest horror properties out there.

But one thing that didn't help was its predecessor's reception. Critics raved about the film, but the audience response was much more polarizing. Not only because the premise is not what the trailer sold, but because its jarring ending didn't fully connect with audiences. Rather than hyping them for a new film, it left them confused and bewildered. Usually, when a film doesn't get a good audience response, the follow-up film tends to pay for the sins.

It is appreciated that it arrived just seven months after the prior film, but that distance isn't exactly a recipe for success. Back to the Future, The Matrix and Kill Bill had sequels follow up just six months after the prior film released, and in each case, the films saw declines. The only exception to a short gap was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, released just 8 months after Part 1, and it became the biggest film in the franchise. But that had much more on its side compared to the previous films. Needless to say, The Bone Temple had a lot to lose in this scenario.

And while Sony still spent a lot on marketing the film, the material didn't exactly differentiate much from its predecessor. Which means it couldn't attract those who didn't care for 28 Years Later. Especially when it would have to follow up a very wild ending that didn't land with everyone. Reviews were fantastic (93% on RT), but that was not going to convince people uninterested.

According to Sony, 66% of the audience was male, and 75% was 25 and over. The film failed to connect with young audiences, a strong demographic for horror. But not all is lost; audiences gave The Bone Temple a strong "A–" on CinemaScore, far better than Years' "B". That's a very tough grade for a horror film to get, indicating that audiences are very much loving the film. Perhaps it's skewed due to the small size of the debut, but it's still a strong grade. Years had a great debut but collapsed quickly. Given the weak competition, perhaps Bone Temple can have some good legs over the next few weeks. But it will still be an uphill battle to recoup its investment.

Zootopia 2 once again moved up a spot to third place. It eased a very light 8%, earning $9.1 million ($12.8 million four-day). The film's domestic total stands at $394 million, and will cross the $400 million barrier in the next few days.

The Housemaid is still showing some great legs. It dipped just 22%, earning $8.5 million ($10.2 million four-day). The film has earned an incredible $108.8 million domestically, and it should finish with around $140 million domestically.

A24's Marty Supreme hit a major milestone this weekend. It eased just 27%, earning $5.4 million this weekend ($6.6 million four-day). With $80.8 million domestically, it has officially eclipsed Everything Everywhere All At Once ($77.1 million) to become A24's highest grossing film in the domestic market. Given that the film is poised to get major Oscar nominations, there's still a strong possibility that it can reach $100 million domestically.

Paramount's Primate earned $5 million ($6 million four-day) this weekend. That's a 55% drop, which isn't bad for a horror film, but also not quite better than usual. Through 10 days, the film has earned $19.6 million, and it looks like it will finish below $30 million.

Fathom Events re-released the Lord of the Rings trilogy in theaters, and The Fellowship of the Ring managed to crack the seventh spot, earning $3.5 million ($3.9 million four-day). That took its lifetime gross to $323.6 million domestically.

After its poor debut, Lionsgate's Greenland 2: Migration is showing no signs of life. It collapsed 59%, earning $3.4 million ($4.2 million four-day). Through 10 days, it has made a poor $15 million, and it won't make it much further than $20 million.

In ninth place, Sony's Anaconda earned $3.3 million ($4.2 million four-day), taking its domestic total to $60.1 million.

Rounding out the Top 10 was The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants with $2.3 million ($3.4 million four-day). The film's domestic total stands at $68.2 million.

Just outside the Top 10, there's the rest of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Two Towers earned $2.3 million ($2.4 million four-day), taking its lifetime to $348.1 million. The Return of the King made $2.2 million ($2.3 million four-day), for a $381.9 million lifetime.

Neon expanded Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice into wide release. It managed to earn $2.2 million ($2.6 million four-day) in 697 theaters. The film has earned a very solid $6.9 million domestically, and it should continue performing well over the next weeks.

Song Sung Blue earned $1.7 million ($2.1 million four-day) this weekend. That takes its domestic total to $35 million.

Angel Studios' David dropped a rough 50%, adding $1.5 million ($2.2 million four-day). The film's domestic total stands at $78.3 million, and it officially has no chance of hitting either $100 million nor $90 million.

After winning Best Motion Drama Picture at the Golden Globes last weekend, Focus Features expanded Hamnet to 718 theaters, and it increased to $1.3 million ($1.7 million four-day). The film has amassed $14.7 million, and it should get another expansion when the Oscar nominations are announced on Thursday.

Row K expanded Gus Van Sant's Dead Man's Wire into 1,101 theaters, but it only earned a weak $1 million this weekend.

Searchlight's Is This Thing On? just had its question answered. It collapsed 59%, earning just $945,777 ($1.1 million four-day). With a weak $5.5 million domestically and no awards buzz, the film is going to be dropped from theaters soon.

Universal re-released DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar in 1,083 theaters, but the film only mustered $402,695 ($604,545 four-day). A pretty poor $372 per-theater average. It takes its lifetime gross to $194.2 million.

OVERSEAS

Avatar: Fire and Ash added $44.5 million overseas, taking its worldwide total to $1.324 billion. The best markets are China ($155.4M), France ($98.9M), Germany ($80.3M), the UK ($51.4M) and South Korea ($51.1M). It's going to hit the $1.5 billion milestone eventually, but it pretty much confirms it will lose the Hollywood crown to Zootopia 2.

The Housemaid is proving to be a bigger success outside America. It added $26.6 million, taking its worldwide total to a fantastic $247.4 million. The film has seen strong holds in the UK, as well as in Latin America. This is definitely hitting $300 million very soon.

Speaking of Zootopia 2, the film is still showing so much strength. It added $24.3 million overseas, allowing it to cross $1.7 billion worldwide. In the process, it surpassed Inside Out 2 to become the biggest ever Hollywood animated film. Given its holds, it looks like $1.8 billion is now in good shape.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple debuted with a weak $16.1 million overseas, for a $30.6 million worldwide debut. That's just half of what 28 Years Later did, with only the UK ($4.6M) and Mexico ($1.5M) showing signs of life. Given the $63 million budget, it really seems profitability in theaters will be a big challenge. But Sony appears to be confident in its prospects; they already greenlit the third film in the trilogy, with Cillian Murphy officially in talks to reprise his role. Let's see where this goes.

Marty Supreme has crossed $100 million worldwide, becoming A24's fourth film to reach that milestone. It has performed incredibly well in the UK ($16M), and had solid debuts in Mexico ($944K), Norway ($830K) and Israel ($672K). This is still just a small sample of the markets to come; it will add more big markets this week, including most of Latin America. With Oscar nominations about to be announced, looks like the film will easily recoup its $65 million budget in theaters. A massive, massive win for adult dramas.

Hamnet is also showing strength in its early overseas prospects. In the UK, the film has earned a great $11.2 million, and also had a solid debut in Australia ($1.7M). It has earned a solid $27.9 million worldwide, and it's about to add more markets just as the Oscar nominations come up.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

• 20th Century Studios' Predator: Badlands has closed with $184 million worldwide. It's the highest grossing Predator title, although it's hard to call it a hit given its $105 million budget. Clearly, the franchise doesn't have the popularity that Alien had. But given the film's very positive response, perhaps it could show more life in ancilliaries.

• Well, that's a very sad swan song for a director. James L. Brooks' Ella McCay has closed with a pathetic $4.5 million worldwide, failing to come anywhere close to its $35 million budget. Even more perplexing is the fact that it became Brooks' worst performer even unadjusted for inflation. Despite its good intentions, the film was annihilated by critics (23% on RT, the worst in Brooks' career) and its niche premise didn't connect with audiences. Oh well, at least Disney got a new Simpsons movie out of here.

THIS WEEKEND

There's two wide releases, and both are heading for some pretty poor debuts. Which means Avatar could stay at #1 for a sixth week.

First there's Amazon MGM's Mercy, starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson. An IMAX sci-fi thriller… where Chris Pratt is seated to a chair as he tries to prove his innocence to an AI judge. Yeah, not the best premise out there. It'd be a surprise if it truly broke out.

And there's also Cineverse's Return to Silent Hill, the third theatrical film adaptation of the video game series. It's based on Silent Hill 2, perhaps its most acclaimed and popular title. But the path to the screen was rough; this film wrapped filming back in February 2024, and it was stuck in some distribution problems. Given the very small distributor attached, don't expect high numbers here.

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