Fire and Ash’ Box Office Reign

Chris Pratt’s sci-fi thriller “Mercy” has collected $11.2 million in its North American debut, sufficient to end the five-weekend reign of James Cameron’s behemoth “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”

Though not a blockbuster result for “Mercy,” it’s a powerful tally contemplating the huge winter storm that’s at present blanketing a large portion of the U.S. with snow. Warnings of frigid temperatures, high winds and blizzards have been issued across 37 states, from Texas to Maine, leading to major theater closures across the nation. Unsurprisingly, this ranks as the lowest collective weekend of the 12 months with roughly $60 million across all movies, down roughly 9% from the same interval in 2025.

“Mercy” was anticipated to earn $12 million over the weekend however projections had been ever-so-slightly revised down as the storm began to unfold. Moviegoers who braved the chilly (or those in the fortunate states who had been spared from the sleet, ice and energy outages) weren’t impressed by “Mercy,” which was saddled with a “B-” grade on CinemaScore exit polls. Ditto critics, as evidenced by the bleak 20% Rotten Tomatoes common. That might spell bother for endurance for “Mercy,” which carries a $60 million manufacturing finances before factoring in global advertising and marketing bills. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, “Mercy” takes place in the close to future as a detective (Pratt) stands trial for allegedly murdering his spouse. An superior AI choose (Rebecca Ferguson) will decide his destiny.

“The weekend start is also good considering the soft reception,” says David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting agency Franchise Entertainment Research.

“Mercy” is the first big release of the 12 months for Amazon MGM, which didn’t unveil a lot theatrically in 2025 however plans to remedy that over the next 11 months with choices such as the Ryan Gosling-led “Project Hail Mary,” toy-inspired “Masters of the Universe” and Colleen Hoover adaptation “Verity.” That’s good news for exhibitors, who’ve complained about the lower in the variety of new movies since the pandemic and two Hollywood labor strikes. With the lower in quantity, total home revenues in 2025 fell in need of the $9 billion that analysts had anticipated the trade to generate over 12 months.

“Avatar 3,” which had spent all of January at the No. 1 spot on home charts, slid to second place with $7 million over the weekend. After six weekends of release, “Fire and Ash” has earned $378 million in North America and $1.378 billion globally. Though an enormous result, in fact, “Avatar 3” isn’t near reaching the box workplace heights of its predecessors, 2009’s “Avatar” and 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Those movies each remained in first place for seven consecutive weekends and ended up with $2.9 billion and $2.3 billion, respectively.

Disney’s animated juggernaut “Zootopia 2” remained at No. 3 with $5.7 million in its ninth (!) weekend of release. The animated sequel has remained a box workplace pressure since Thanksgiving with $401 million domestically and $1.744 billion globally. It stays the highest-grossing animated Hollywood movie of all time, ahead of “Inside Out 2” ($1.69 billion).

Another new release, “Return to Silent Hill,” couldn’t crack the top 5 and debuted in the No. 7 slot with $3.2 million from 1,850 places. That’s dramatically behind the first two movies in the psychological horror collection, 2006’s “Silent Hill” ($20 million debut) and 2012’s sequel “Silent Hill: Resurrection” ($8 million debut). Sony launched the preliminary movie, which ended up grossing $100 million worldwide, while the now-defunct Open Road backed the follow-up, which tapped out with just $55 million. Iconic Events, the distributor of thrillers like the “Terrifier” collection and “Steamboat,” are behind the third installment, which at present holds a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes.

“The film has a total investment of only $3.5 million,” Cineverse chairman and CEO Chris McGurk said in a press release. “Love it or hate it, the video game fans want to see the film and talk about it and that will continue to make it a great title for us in home entertainment.”

He added that “weather clearly was big factor this weekend and impacted the box office significantly for everyone, hopefully the industry will get some of this missed demand back during this week and next weekend if the weather improves.”

Meanwhile some Oscar contenders acquired a lift after nominations had been announced on Thursday. A24’s “Marty Supreme,” which landed 9 nominations, added $3.5 million from 2,021 venues over the weekend. Those ticket sales mark a 32% decline from the prior body, the smallest drop in the top 5. The movie, starring Timothee Chalamet and directed by Josh Safdie, has grossed $86.2 million in North America and more than $105 million globally.

At the No. 8 spot, Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet” generated $2 million from 1,996 theaters in its first weekend of nationwide release. The Shakespearean drama, which scored 13 Academy Award nods, has earned $17.6 million domestically and $42 million globally after a number of weekends in restricted release.

More to return…