Box Office: ‘Avatar 3’ Leads in First Weekend of 2026 With $40 Million, ‘The Housemaid’ Surpasses $75 Million

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is towering over the domestic box office during the first weekend of the new year.

James Cameron’s latest Na’vi adventure has collected $40 million from 3,825 North American theaters in its third weekend of release, declining 35% from the busy post-Christmas frame. Those ticket sales are pushing the third “Avatar” to $306 million domestically and $1.08 billion globally after just 18 days in theaters. “Fire and Ash” crossed the coveted billion-dollar benchmark slower than 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which took 14 days, and the original “Avatar,” which took 17 days. Now it’s a matter of where “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will top out at the box office — and whether the third installment has the stamina to surpass $2 billion like its predecessors.

Since January is often glacial in terms of movie theater attendance, Hollywood studios barely release anything new around the dawn of the new year. That means a smattering of Thanksgiving and Christmas leftovers, such as “Zootopia 2,” “The Housemaid” and “Marty Supreme,” were behind “Avatar: Fire and Ash” on North American charts.

Disney’s “Zootopia 2” remained a force at No. 2 with $19 million from 3,285 venues, marking a minimal 4% drop from the previous weekend. After six weekends of release, the beloved animated sequel has grossed a mighty $363 million domestically and $1.588 billion globally. “Zootopia 2” recently outperformed “Frozen 2” ($1.45 billion) to become Walt Disney Animation’s highest-grossing movie of all time. That means the announcement of a third trip to the animal-filled metropolis can’t be too far off.

Lionsgate’s psychological thriller “The Housemaid” rose to No. 3 with $15.2 million from 3,070 screens, a barely-there 1% dip from the prior weekend. The R-rated film, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, has earned an impressive $75.7 million in North America and $133 million worldwide against a $35 million budget.

Fourth place went to A24’s “Marty Supreme” with $12.5 million from 2,887 locations, declining just 30% from the post-Christmas frame. So far, the Timothee Chalamet-led ping-pong dramedy has generated $56 million in North America, a great result for the original arthouse release. With those ticket sales, “Marty Supreme” has outgrossed the director Josh Safdie’s prior film “Uncut Gems” ($50 million globally) and ranks among A24’s biggest movies of all time. However, “Marty Supreme” cost $70 million to produce, making it the most expensive film to date for A24. It’ll need to remain a draw into the new year to justify its budget.

Sony’s action comedy “Anaconda” remained in fifth place with $10 million from 3,509 theaters, a drop of 31% from the prior weekend. After two weekends of release, the meta reboot of 1997’s “Anaconda, this one starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd, has grossed $45.8 million in North America and $88 million globally against a $45 million production budget.

Another Christmas release, the Focus Features musical drama “Song Sung Blue,” slid to the No. 8 spot with $5.87 million from 2,705 venues, a scant 17% drop. So far, the tear-jerker, led by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as performers in a Neil Diamond cover band, has grossed $25 million domestically and $30 million worldwide against a $30 million budget.

Although the year is very young, 2026 is already pacing ahead of 2025 by 26.5%, according to Comscore. Last year’s revenues hit $8.9 billion across 12 months, a modest 1.5% increase from 2024, though just short of the $9 billion that analysts had expected the industry to generate. As studios prepare to unveil major blockbusters — including “Avengers: Doomsday,” “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” — will this year’s grosses manage to return to pre-pandemic heights?

“With a killer slate on the docket, there’s confidence that 2026 will be the biggest year for theaters since 2020,” predicts Comscore’s head of marketplace trends, Paul Dergarabedian.

Now, Hollywood just needs audiences to show up at multiplexes.