Thanks to Avatar 3, the US box office starts 2026 with a bang

James Cameron always knows how to fill theaters, but the score for Fire and Ashes is much less impressive than that for The Way of Water.

No fireworks, but a positive signal.

The American box office is starting 2026 on a solid footing, with $134.7 million taken in across the market for its first weekend of the year. Quite simply the best first weekend of the year in the post-Covid era (the record went back to the first weekend of 2023 with 104.2 million) and not even far from the first weekend of 2020, before the pandemic brought Hollywood to a halt – at the time dominated by Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (142.4 million then).

2026 starts at +29% compared to 2025, thanks in particular to its locomotive from Pandora.

At the top of the ranking, Avatar: Of Fire and Ashes adds $40 million for its third weekend, bringing its domestic cume to $306 million. A solid performance, but which remains clearly behind Avatar: The Way of Waterwhich already peaked at $420 million in North America, after three weekends, in January 2023.

On a global level, Disney has not yet communicated an official figure, but Avatar 3 has already crossed the billion dollar mark. Here again, the comparison is cruel: at the same stage, the second opus had already exceeded the dizzying mark of 1.5 billion dollars worldwide.

Zootopia 2 continues to collect

Behind Avatar 3there is still Disney with Zootopia 2 which impresses with its longevity. For its sixth weekend, the film added $19 million and reached a domestic cume of $363.6 million. Worldwide, the animated film has now exceeded $1.5 billion, confirming its status as the biggest hit of all time for the Walt Disney Animation studio.

Sydney Sweeney bankable again

On the third step of the podium, The Housekeeper (Lionsgate) continues to surprise. Screened in 3,070 theaters, the thriller by Paul Feig totaled $75.7 million after two weeks on the other side of the Atlantic. So has America grown tired of Sydney Sweeney after the enormous failures of Christine, Eden Or Americana ? A priori no. The Housekeeper is just 13.7 million from surpassing the US total of Anyone But You (88.3 million), his big romantic Christmas hit of 2023.

Marty Supreme enters the history of A24

Just behind, Marty Supreme confirms its status as a critical and commercial success. Josh Safdie’s film, now in 2,887 theaters, earned 12.55 million over the weekend (-21%) for a cumulative 56 million in the third week in the USA. A symbolic milestone has been reached: Marty Supreme exceeds Uncut Gems and becomes A24’s third biggest domestic success, behind Everything Everywhere All at Once (77 million) and Civil War (69 million). The film is 19% better than the Dylan biopic A Perfect Stranger worn by Timothée Chalamet, who ended his career at 75 million.

Flop for Anaconda

On the other hand, the observation is much more severe for the meta remake Anaconda. Distributed by Sony in 3,509 theaters, the film topped out at 45 million US dollars after two weeks, for around 60 million worldwide, while its budget was around $45 million. A meager score, despite the presence of Paul Rudd and Jack Black. Nostalgia and irony are no longer enough to guarantee success in theaters.