As the final weekend of 2025 unfolded, cinema audiences continued to support Disney's 'Avatar: Fire and Ash,' reinforcing the film's position among the year's most successful releases. The third chapter in James Cameron's 'Avatar' franchise achieved a domestic weekend gross of $64 million between Friday and Sunday. Simultaneously, it garnered approximately $181.2 million in international markets, culminating in a total global revenue of $760.4 million.
This installment has ascended to become the sixth highest-grossing movie worldwide in 2025, surpassing other recent popular films such as Warner Bros. Discovery’s 'Superman' and Sony Pictures’ 'Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle' within just ten days of release. Disney’s ongoing franchise, with previous films launched in 2009 and 2022, continues to captivate audiences through its advanced visual effects and immersive cinematic experience.
Notably, 'Fire and Ash' has accumulated $96 million globally from IMAX screenings alone, positioning it to potentially become IMAX's leading Hollywood release for the year, according to Disney’s statements. Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore, highlighted that premium viewing formats significantly contribute to the film's gains, even as consumers exhibit sensitivity to ticket pricing.
Besides 'Avatar: Fire and Ash,' diverse film offerings attracted moviegoers during the weekend. Disney's 'Zootopia 2,' which debuted on Thanksgiving, achieved a box office rank of second place, earning $20 million—a 35% increase over the prior weekend’s figures, per Comscore data. Having reached a global gross of $1.4 billion, 'Zootopia 2' stands as the second-highest-grossing film of 2025. Dergarabedian applauded this title as the 'Most Valuable Player' of the holiday movie season, underscoring the strong performance of PG-rated films this year, which amassed $2.87 billion domestically and surpassed earnings from PG-13 rated movies.
In third place at the box office was A24’s 'Marty Supreme,' a sports comedy-drama featuring Timothée Chalamet. The film accumulated $17.5 million, propelled by substantial attention on social media platforms. A24 reports that a predominantly male audience drove this success, with approximately one-third of viewers under 25 years old. Initially opening in limited release across six theaters in New York City and Los Angeles, 'Marty Supreme' expanded rapidly to over 2,600 screens, buoyed by Oscar buzz and online enthusiasm. Shawn Robbins, director of movie analytics at Fandango and owner of Box Office Theory, remarked that A24 effectively adapted its marketing strategies to engage both traditional and contemporary audiences during the holiday period, anticipating the film’s potential in the awards season.
Lionsgate Films' 'The Housemaid,' which premiered last weekend, secured the fourth spot with earnings of $15.4 million. Sony Pictures’ reboot of the 1997 film 'Anaconda' followed closely at fifth place, generating $14.5 million. Rounding out the top six was Angel Studios' 'David,' which grossed $12.69 million. Paramount’s 'The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants' and Focus Features’ 'Song Sung Blue' also contributed to the weekend's box office totals, with $11 million and $7.6 million respectively. 'Song Sung Blue’s' debut marked its entry at the eighth position.
The current holiday season marks the strongest Christmas week for box office receipts since 2020, as noted by Robbins. The performance of seven major releases opening around this period largely met or exceeded industry expectations, a feat still relatively infrequent in the post-pandemic environment.
Regarding overall industry trends, Comscore reports that domestic box office revenues for 2025 have reached $8.76 billion. While this figure represents a 1.56% increase from the previous year, it remains below 2023’s total of $9 billion, currently the only post-pandemic year to surpass this mark. Comparatively, 2019 saw domestic earnings exceeding $11 billion. Analysts suggest that the robust showing of December titles could extend momentum, adding an estimated $100 million in box office revenue before the year's end.
Dergarabedian anticipates that an encouraging lineup slated for 2026 may support theaters in achieving their best post-pandemic performance. Among the anticipated films are Universal Pictures’ 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' (set for April 3), 'Disclosure Day' (June 12), and Disney’s 'Toy Story 5' (June 19). Additionally, blockbuster projects like 'Avengers: Doomsday' and Warner Bros. Pictures’ 'Dune: Part Three,' both scheduled for December 18, are expected to contribute significantly to next year's box office appeal.