NEW YORK — Hollywood wrapped up a turbulent year with big ticket sales for ''Avatar: Fire and Ash'' and a box-office hit for Timothée Chalamet with ''Marty Supreme'' over a busy holiday weekend in movie theaters.
As expected, James Cameron's latest trip to Pandora dominated ticket sales, collecting $88 million over the four-day Christmas-to-Sunday period and $64 million on the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Though ''Fire and Ash'' initially opened notably softer domestically than its 2022 predecessor, ''Avatar: The Way of Water,'' it held better in its second weekend. It dipped just 28%, whereas ''Way of Water'' fell 53%.
In two weeks, ''Fire and Ash'' has quickly amassed $217.7 million in North America for The Walt Disney Company. But the $400 million-budgeted film has been a massive draw internationally, grossing $542.7 million thus far overseas. To reach the box-office heights of the previous films, both of which rank among the biggest blockbusters ever, ''Fire and Ash'' will need to sustain business through New Year's and early January. If it does, ''Avatar'' could become the first franchise with three $2 billion movies.
But much of the heat in theaters over Christmas and on the weekend belonged to ''Marty Supreme,'' A24's biggest budget release, Josh Safdie's 1950s-set table tennis drama collected $27.1 million over the four-day weekend, a smash success for the indie studio.
Chalamet went to great lengths to promote the acclaimed release, including appearing atop the Sphere in Las Vegas. The strong opening proved that the 30-year-old star has drawing power beyond most of his contemporaries, and it marked a rare box-office win for a wholly original film. Safdie's film carries a price tag of about $70 million.
''Marty Supreme'' even bested the film most analysts expected to rank number two: Sony Pictures' ''Anaconda.'' The big-screen comedy, starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd, collected $23.7 million over the four-day holiday weekend. That's still good for comedy, a genre most studios have abandoned in recent years. But ''Anaconda'' (50% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) was surely dinged by poor reviews.
Hollywood is ending the year with its best Christmas Day box office since before the COVID-19 pandemic, a celebratory final note in what's been a rough year for the film industry. Going into the year, expectations were high for the industry's first year this decade not marred by pandemic or strike.
''It was a really solid end to a tumultuous year,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. ''It's been a roller-coaster ride. I think the best news for the industry — I know we kind of say this every year — but if you look at the lineup for 2026, it's pretty incredible.''
