Across North America, a widespread winter storm forced the closure of roughly 250 movie theaters from Texas to Maine during the weekend, according to data from Comscore, significantly diminishing overall movie attendance. Over 140 million residents found themselves under winter storm warnings, thereby suppressing the usual weekend boost in cinema visits. This environment led to the most subdued box office weekend recorded so far this year.
Within this context, the new Amazon MGM science fiction thriller, “Mercy,” earned $11.2 million in domestic ticket sales, enough to claim the top spot in North America for the weekend. The film, featuring Chris Pratt as a protagonist undergoing trial before an artificial intelligence judge in a near-future setting, was released with a production budget of $60 million. However, it was met with critical challenges, holding a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a modest “B-” CinemaScore from audiences. Despite these factors and the inclement weather, “Mercy” managed to displace James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” from its five-week reign at number one.
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” dropped to second place domestically with $7 million for the weekend. While its momentum is tapering off in North America, the film continues to attract strong interest in international markets, generating $28.1 million overseas during its sixth weekend in release.
Although the latest installment in the “Avatar” franchise has surpassed the $1 billion mark internationally, its domestic performance remains substantially below the franchise’s earlier entries. The original 2009 film grossed $2.9 billion worldwide, followed by the 2022 sequel “The Way of Water,” which accumulated $2.3 billion globally. To date, “Fire and Ash” has garnered $378.5 million domestically, underscoring a marked decline in U.S. and Canadian box office receipts relative to its predecessors.
The traditional post-Oscar nomination boost in box office sales appears diminished. Leading nominees announced on Thursday, including “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another,” have completed their theater runs well before nominations were made public. Nonetheless, some nominated films have displayed steady ticket sales. “Hamnet,” directed by Chloé Zhao and an eight-time Oscar nominee including best picture, collected $2 million in its first wide-release weekend. The Shakespearean drama, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, extended its theatrical presence over two months, reaching $17.6 million domestically and $42.1 million worldwide.
Similarly, Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme,” nominated for nine Academy Awards, earned $3.5 million in its sixth weekend. The A24 film featuring Timothée Chalamet has now crossed a global revenue of $100 million, with domestic earnings of $86.2 million. In contrast, newer releases generally struggled, including “Return to Silent Hill,” the third installment in a horror series, which opened with $3.2 million. The franchise’s earlier films were distributed by Sony and Open Road, whereas the latest low-budget release was managed by Iconic Events.
Another recent release, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” directed by Nia DaCosta and released by Sony, experienced a sharp decline in its second weekend, dropping 71% to $3.6 million following a disappointing $13.3 million opening. Additional new movies such as Roadside Attractions’ “H Is For Hawk,” featuring Claire Foy, amassed only $150,000 across 472 theaters, while Sony’s “Clika,” centering on a migrant worker aspiring to a music career, earned $1.2 million in 522 locations.
Final domestic box office estimates for the weekend, spanning Friday through Sunday, as reported by Comscore, rank the top ten films as follows:
- “Mercy” – $11.2 million
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash” – $7 million
- “Zootopia 2” – $5.7 million
- “The Housemaid” – $4.2 million
- “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” – $3.6 million
- “Marty Supreme” – $3.5 million
- “Return to Silent Hill” – $2.7 million
- “Hamnet” – $2 million
- “Lord of the Rings” – $2 million
- “Primate” – $1.7 million