After a rocky 2025, the domestic box office is ringing in the new year on a high note. A broad slate of holiday releases continues to draw crowds as students remain on break and many workers enjoy extended vacations. As a result, New Year’s weekend revenue is shaping up to be the strongest of the post-pandemic era.

At the forefront is ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash,’ the latest epic from James Cameron, which surged past the $1 billion mark worldwide on Saturday. Disney and 20th Century Studios are expected to release full figures on Sunday. The achievement further cements Cameron’s dominance at the global box office; he has now directed three of the four highest-grossing films of all time, including ‘Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water’ and ‘Titanic.’

Through New Year’s Day, ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ had amassed $935 million globally, split between $266 million domestically and $699 million overseas. A further $14 million on Friday alone pushed its North American total to $280 million. With that momentum, the film is projected to take the weekend crown with $36 million to $38 million, clearing $300 million domestically while comfortably joining the billion-dollar club.

As of Saturday, it is only the third Hollywood release of 2025 to cross $1 billion, following fellow Disney hits ‘Lilo & Stitch’ ($1.038 billion) and the animated phenomenon ‘Zootopia 2,’ which has racked up $1.51 billion since debuting over Thanksgiving.

‘Zootopia 2’ shows no signs of slowing. In its sixth weekend, the sequel is expected to dip by just seven percent, landing in second place with $18 million or more from 3,285 theaters. Earlier this week, it overtook ‘Frozen II’ to become the highest-grossing title in Walt Disney Animation Studios history (unadjusted for inflation). It has also set a new benchmark in China as the top-grossing Hollywood animated film there, with more than $560 million, and now ranks as the country’s second-biggest film ever behind ‘Avengers: Endgame.’

Overall, Disney is closing out a banner year, reaching $6.5 billion in global ticket sales for the first time since the pandemic.

Several other holiday releases are also posting impressive holds. Lionsgate and director Paul Feig’s sleeper hit ‘The Housemaid’ is expected to slip just six percent to about $14 million, bringing its domestic total close to $75 million. The female-driven thriller marks a significant win, particularly for star Sydney Sweeney, who recently faced online backlash tied to an American Eagle ad campaign and the disappointing box office run of her awards hopeful ‘Christy.’

Another standout is A24’s lavish period drama ‘Marty Supreme,’ directed by Josh Safdie and led by Timothée Chalamet as a 1950s table tennis champion. After surprising the industry by finishing second over Christmas with $27.1 million, the film posted a $17.5 million Friday-to-Sunday haul—the second-best in A24’s history. It’s now eyeing a fourth-place finish this weekend with $11 million to $12 million from 2,887 locations.

‘Marty Supreme’ continues to outperform Sony’s ‘Anaconda’ and Focus Features’ critical favorite ‘Song Sung Blue,’ starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. Along with Angel Studios’ ‘Song Sung Blue’ boasts the highest audience score on Rotten Tomatoes among Christmas releases in wide play, at 98 percent. The film is inspired by the 2008 documentary about Mike and Claire Sardina, performers in the Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder.

Rounding out the top tier this weekend is Anaconda, despite poor critical reception, followed by ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants,’ ‘David,’ and ‘Song Sung Blue.’ Universal Pictures’ Thanksgiving release ‘Wicked: For Good’ is tracking toward ninth place.

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