NEW YORK – As 2026 gets underway, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” continues to dominate the box office for the third consecutive week, ushering in optimism for a year full of hits following a lackluster 2025.

Since its release, “Fire and Ash,” the third installment of James Cameron’s saga set in Pandora, has raked in over $1 billion globally. According to studio estimates released on Sunday, the film earned $40 million during its third weekend in North American cinemas.

The film’s strongest performance has been overseas, accumulating $777.1 million in international markets so far. On Sunday, The Walt Disney Co. celebrated the $1 billion benchmark, calling it another significant triumph for Cameron’s trailblazing series.

During the holiday period, the buzz wasn’t solely about weekend box office figures. With most schools on break, the entire week proved profitable for Hollywood. What contributed to ticket sales beyond “Avatar”? The star power of Sydney Sweeney, Timothée Chalamet, and the release of “Zootopia 2.”

A film that premiered in November, Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” demonstrated exceptional longevity in theaters, holding strong in second place with $19 million—a slight 4% decline from the previous weekend.

In just six weeks, this animated sequel has garnered $1.59 billion, making “Zootopia 2” Disney’s second highest-grossing animated feature ever, surpassed only by 2019’s lifelike rendition of “The Lion King,” which earned $1.66 billion.

“The Housemaid,” the twisty thriller starring Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, also emerged as a holiday-season hit for Lionsgate. It collected $14.9 million over the weekend, giving it $75.7 million domestically over three weeks. It dipped only 3% from last weekend. Internationally, “The Housemaid,” which cost a modest $35 million to make, has added $57.3 million.

Just as Sweeney’s star power is propelling “The Housemaid,” so is Chalamet’s with “Marty Supreme.” The A24 release also held well in its third weekend, grossing an estimated $12.6 million. After two weeks of wide release, Josh Safdie’s frenetic table tennis tale has grossed $56 million in North America, passing the director’s previous film, “Uncut Gems” ($50 million worldwide).

Just about everything playing in theaters saw small drops from the previous weekend. Sony’s action comedy “Anaconda,” starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd, dipped 31% to collect $10 million in second weekend. Focus Features’ “Song Sung Blue” dropped only 17% in its second weekend with $5.9 million. The Hugh Jackman-Kate Hudson Neil Diamond cover band movie has earned $25 million domestically.

With “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and a wide variety of smaller hits, Hollywood started 2026 strongly. Overall sales were up 26.5% from the same weekend in 2025, according to data firm Comscore.

The movie industry is coming off a poor 2025, where domestic moviegoing continued to slide. U.S. and Canada ticket sales in 2025 amounted to $8.9 billion, a 2% increase from the year earlier, according to Comscore, but about 20% below pre-pandemic levels. That slight improvement was notably less than anticipated and was also boosted by higher ticket prices. Actual tickets sold declined from more than 800 million in 2024 to around 780 million in 2025.

The industry is now awaiting a potentially seismic shift with Warner Bros., one of the most theatrical-friendly studios, agreeing to sell to Netflix. That $83 billion deal awaits regulatory approval.

Yet studios are cautiously optimistic 2026 could be the best box-office year of the decade. A release slate filled with marquee franchises, including new “Toy Story,” “Avengers,” “Spider-Man,” “Super Mario Bros” and “Dune” movies, has raised hopes of a turnaround.

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $40 million.

2. “Zootopia 2,” $19 million.

3. “The Housemaid,” $14.9 million.

4. “Marty Supreme,” $12.6 million.

5. “Anaconda,” $10 million.

6. “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants,” $8.2 million.

7. “David,” $8 million.

8. “Song Sung Blue,” $5.9 million.

9. “Wicked: For Good,” $3.3 million.

10. “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” $2.7 million.