Mon Dec 29 05:30:00 UTC 2025: ## ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Dominates Holiday Box Office, Though Indie and Animated Fare Shine

Hollywood, CA – James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” continued its reign over the domestic box office during the Christmas holiday, raking in $64 million over the weekend and $88 million since Thursday. The sci-fi epic’s strong hold prevented a complete takeover by a wave of new releases, as well as the return of a family favorite.

While “Avatar 3” held strong, several new films carved out their own successes. A24’s sports dramedy “Marty Supreme,” starring Timothée Chalamet as a table tennis prodigy, debuted in third place with $17.4 million over the weekend, a promising start for the indie studio’s biggest-budgeted film to date. Moviegoers are enjoying the sports dramedy which garnered a B+ rating on CinemaScore exit polls.

Disney’s “Zootopia 2” proved it still had legs, jumping back to the number two spot in its fifth weekend with $20 million. The animated sequel has now grossed $320 million domestically and $1.42 billion globally, making it the year’s highest-grossing Hollywood release.

Other new entries included Focus Features’ musical “Song Sung Blue,” starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as a Neil Diamond tribute band, which landed in eighth place with $7.6 million. Sony’s action-comedy “Anaconda,” a meta-reboot starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd, took the fifth spot with $14.6 million.

“Marty Supreme” is being lauded for the creative mind of director Josh Safdie, as well as the marketing power of star, Timothée Chalamet. “Sports dramas are not big movies to begin with, but the right cast can elevate them,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research.

Despite the influx of new films and the continued success of “Zootopia 2,” “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is expected to maintain its box office dominance into the new year, following the pattern of its predecessors.

The strong end-of-year performance, fueled by “Avatar,” “Zootopia 2,” and “Marty Supreme,” pushed the overall domestic box office to $8.76 billion, just 1.5% ahead of last year. While a strong showing, it remains roughly 22% behind 2019 figures, leaving the industry just shy of the elusive $9 billion benchmark for another year.

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