Avatar 3 Dominates Holiday Box Office, Marty Supreme Scores Big for A24

Avatar 3 & Marty Supreme Lead Hollywood's Strong Holiday Weekend

The turbulent year for Hollywood concluded on a celebratory note, with a bustling holiday weekend at movie theaters driven by major releases like 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' and 'Marty Supreme'. The period from Christmas to Sunday saw significant audience turnout, marking the best Christmas Day box office since the pre-pandemic era.

Avatar Continues Its Pandoran Reign

As anticipated, James Cameron's latest cinematic journey, Avatar: Fire and Ash, ruled the box office. The film collected an impressive USD 88 million over the four-day holiday period, with USD 64 million coming from the standard Friday-to-Sunday weekend. While its domestic opening was softer than its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water, it showed stronger staying power in its second week, dipping only 28% compared to the 53% fall of the previous film.

In just two weeks, the high-budget Disney release has amassed USD 217.7 million in North America. Its global appeal remains undeniable, with international collections reaching approximately Rs 542.7 million, pushing its worldwide total to an estimated USD 760 million. To join its predecessors in the elite USD 2 billion club, the film needs to maintain momentum through New Year's and early January.

Marty Supreme Serves an Ace for A24

The holiday surprise came from A24's Marty Supreme, a 1950s-set table tennis drama directed by Josh Safdie. Starring Timothee Chalamet, the film scored a smash USD 27.1 million over the four-day weekend, becoming the indie studio's biggest budget release success. Chalamet's vigorous promotion, including a memorable appearance atop the Las Vegas Sphere, paid off, proving his unique star power.

This opening marked a significant win for an original film in a market dominated by franchises. Marty Supreme, made on a budget of about USD 70 million, even outperformed the anticipated comedy Anaconda from Sony Pictures, which earned USD 23.7 million over the same period.

2025 Box Office: A Year of PG Ratings and Streaming Shifts

Despite the strong finish, 2025's overall domestic box office is ending roughly on par with 2024's disappointing USD 8.75 billion. With three days left, the total stands at USD 8.76 billion, a worrying figure compared to the USD 11.4 billion of 2019. The industry faces new challenges, including Netflix's attempted acquisition of Warner Bros.

A key trend of the year was the outperformance of PG-rated movies over PG-13 ones for the second consecutive year. PG films generated USD 2.87 billion domestically, compared to USD 2.78 billion for PG-13. The top Hollywood blockbusters—Zootopia 2 (USD 1.42 billion), Lilo & Stitch (USD 1.04 billion), and A Minecraft Movie (USD 958.2 million)—were all PG-rated.

Propelled by these hits, Disney became the first studio since 2019 to cross the USD 6 billion mark in global annual revenue. Meanwhile, the year's highest-grossing film globally was the Chinese production Ne Zha 2 (USD 2 billion).

The coming week, with schools on break, is expected to be one of the busiest for theaters. Other films capitalizing on the holiday season include Lionsgate's The Housemaid (USD 46.7 million in two weeks), Angel Studios' David (USD 49.8 million), and the well-received musical Song Sung Blue, which debuted with USD 12 million over four days.

Expectations are now growing for a box office rebound in 2026, with major titles like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Toy Story 5 on the horizon.