NEW YORK (AP) — 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 third chapter in James Cameron’s Pandora epic collected $40 million over its third weekend in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.
“Fire and Ash” 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. What drove ticket sales, beyond “Avatar”? Sydney Sweeney, Timothée Chalamet and “Zootopia 2.”
The most sustained success over the holiday collider in theaters belonged to a movie that opened all the way back in November. Yet Disney’s “Zootopia 2” has had remarkable staying power. 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, making it Disney’s second highest grossing animated movie ever. Other films have similarly found traction in the profitable holiday window, with 'The Housemaid,' starring Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, also emerging as a holiday-season hit for Lionsgate.
With ticket sales on the rise and multiple successful titles, Hollywood looks forward to 2026, hoping it might be the best box-office year of the decade, given an exciting release slate filled with anticipated franchises.
