5th January 2026 – (Los Angeles) The Hollywood box office has commenced 2026 on a robust note, led by the continued dominance of James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” The third instalment in the Pandora saga held the top spot for a third consecutive weekend, surpassing the billion-dollar milestone in global earnings. Industry observers are hopeful this signals a turnaround after a lacklustre 2025.
According to studio estimates released on Sunday, “Fire and Ash” added a further $40 million from North American theatres in its third weekend. Its most substantial business has been international, with overseas receipts now standing at $777.1 million, bringing its worldwide total past the $1 billion mark. The Walt Disney Company heralded the achievement as cementing another monumental success for the groundbreaking franchise.
The holiday period proved lucrative for a variety of releases beyond the sci-fi epic. Demonstrating remarkable staying power, Disney’s “Zootopia 2” secured second place with $19 million, a mere 4% drop from the previous weekend. The animated sequel, released in November, has now amassed $1.59 billion globally, making it Disney’s second highest-grossing animated film ever.
Other holiday-season successes included the twisty Lionsgate thriller “The Housemaid,” starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, which earned $14.9 million. Its domestic total now stands at $75.7 million after three weeks. Similarly, Timothée Chalamet’s “Marty Supreme” from A24 held strong, grossing an estimated $12.6 million, bringing its North American total to $56 million.
The positive trend was reflected across most releases, with many films experiencing only minor weekly declines. This collective performance contributed to a 26.5% increase in overall weekend sales compared to the same period in 2025, according to data firm Comscore.
This strong start follows a disappointing 2025 for the industry, where domestic ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada reached $8.9 billion—a slight 2% year-on-year increase but approximately 20% below pre-pandemic levels. The modest improvement was dampened by a decline in actual tickets sold, which fell to around 780 million.