Additional Coverage:
- ‘Mercy’ unseats ‘Avatar: Fire & Ash’ atop the box office on snow-blanketed weekend in theaters (nbcnews.com)
Winter Storm Freezes Box Office, “Mercy” Dethrones “Avatar” in Slowest Weekend of the Year
NEW YORK, NY – A powerful winter storm sweeping across the nation delivered a chilling blow to Hollywood’s box office this past weekend, resulting in the quietest theatrical performance of the year. Despite the widespread closures of approximately 250 theaters and over 140 million Americans under winter storm warnings, the Amazon MGM sci-fi thriller “Mercy” managed to claim the top spot, raking in an estimated $11.2 million in North America.
The win for “Mercy,” starring Chris Pratt as Det. Chris Raven, marks the end of “Avatar: Fire and Ash’s” month-long reign at number one. However, the victory comes with a caveat: “Mercy,” a $60 million production centered on a man facing an AI judge in a near-future trial, arrived to a rather frosty reception itself, garnering a meager 20% on Rotten Tomatoes and a “B-” CinemaScore from audiences.
James Cameron’s third Pandora installment, “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” slid to second place with $7 million. While its domestic run appears to be winding down, the film continues to be a powerhouse internationally, pulling in an additional $28.1 million in its sixth weekend abroad.
Despite its global success, “Fire and Ash” is unlikely to reach the monumental box office heights of its predecessors, with its current domestic total of $378.5 million falling significantly short of the 2009 original’s $2.9 billion and the 2022 sequel’s $2.3 billion. The film has, however, crossed the $1 billion mark internationally.
While the traditional “Oscar bump” for nominated films appears to be largely a thing of the past, with frontrunners “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” having completed their theatrical runs, a few nominees still saw strong performances. Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, brought in $2 million in its first weekend of wide release, pushing its domestic total to $17.6 million and worldwide to $42.1 million. Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme,” with nine Oscar nominations, added $3.5 million in its sixth weekend, crossing the $100 million global mark with $86.2 million domestically.
Newer releases, however, largely struggled to find their footing. “Return to Silent Hill,” the third installment in the horror franchise, opened to a modest $2.7 million.
Meanwhile, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” which debuted last week to a disappointing $13.3 million despite positive reviews, experienced a sharp 71% drop in its second weekend, earning only $3.6 million. Other new films, such as Roadside Attractions’ “H Is For Hawk” ($150,000) and Sony’s “Clika” ($1.2 million), also failed to make significant impressions.
Top 10 Domestic Box Office (Estimated)
- “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