Hollywood kicked off 2026 with Avatar: Fire and Ash atop the box office for the third straight week and with hopes for a blockbuster-filled year after a disappointing 2025. In three weeks of release, Fire and Ash has cleared $1 billion worldwide, the AP reports. The third chapter in James Cameron's Pandora epic collected $40 million over its third weekend in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film is doing its biggest business overseas; it's grossed $777.1 million internationally thus far. The Walt Disney Co. on Sunday trumped the $1 billion milestone as "cementing another monumental achievement for James Cameron's groundbreaking franchise."
But over the holidays, it wasn't just about the weekend ticket sales. The whole week was a lucrative one for Hollywood, with most schools still out. The most sustained success over the holiday collider in theaters belonged Disney's Zootopia 2. It landed in second place with $19 million, dipping a mere 4% from the previous weekend. The animated sequel has amassed $1.59 billion in six weeks. That makes Zootopia 2 Disney's second-highest-grossing animated movie ever, trailing only 2019's photorealistic The Lion King, at $1.66 billion. After a down year, Hollywood started 2026 strong. Overall sales were up 26.5% from the same weekend in 2025, according to data firm Comscore. This year will include new chapters from marquee franchises, including Toy Story, Avengers, Spider-Man, Super Mario Bros, and Dune.
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
- Avatar: Fire and Ash, $40 million.
- Zootopia 2, $19 million.
- The Housemaid, $14.9 million.
- Marty Supreme, $12.6 million.
- Anaconda, $10 million.
- The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, $8.2 million.
- David, $8 million.
- Song Sung Blue, $5.9 million.
- Wicked: For Good, $3.3 million.
- Five Nights at Freddy's 2, $2.7 million.
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