NEW YORK – The weekend saw Hollywood experiencing its slowest box office of the year as a significant winter storm swept across the country. Despite the harsh weather conditions, the Amazon MGM sci-fi thriller “Mercy” managed to claim the top spot, unseating “Avatar: Fire and Ash” with a $11.2 million debut in North America, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
The severe storm led to the closure of numerous theaters from Texas to Maine, as more than 140 million Americans faced winter storm warnings, resulting in a significant drop in movie attendance.
Expectations for the weekend were modest to begin with. “Mercy,” a $60 million production featuring Chris Pratt as a man on trial in a near-future scenario judged by artificial intelligence, was the most prominent new release. It struggled against harsh reviews, scoring only 20% on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences were lukewarm, with a “B-” CinemaScore.
Nevertheless, this was sufficient to finally unseat James Cameron’s third installment in the Pandora saga from its month-long reign at the box office. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” dropped to second place, earning $7 million. Although its domestic performance is waning, the film continues to draw international audiences, bringing in $28.1 million overseas during its sixth weekend.
Unlike its predecessors, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is not expected to reach the monumental box-office figures previously seen. The 2009 original amassed $2.9 billion, while the 2022 sequel, “The Way of Water,” reached $2.3 billion. So far, “Fire and Ash” has surpassed $1 billion internationally, but its domestic earnings of $378.5 million lag significantly behind the earlier films.
Once, Oscar nominations would boost a film’s box office performance, but that trend has largely faded. The leading nominees announced last Thursday—“Sinners” and “One Battle After Another”—had already completed their runs in theaters. Nonetheless, a few nominated films still managed to attract solid audiences.
Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” nominated for eight Oscars including best picture, collected $2 million in its first weekend of wide release. The Shakespeare drama, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, has been in theaters for two months, steadily increasing its theatrical footprint. It’s up to $17.6 million domestically and $42.1 million worldwide.
Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme,” nominated for nine Oscars, earned $3.5 million in its sixth weekend of release. The A24 title, starring Timothée Chalamet, this week cross $100 million globally. It’s made $86.2 million domestically thus far.
But newer releases struggled. “Return to Silent Hill,” the third installment in a horror series kick-started with 2006’s “Silent Hill,” opened with $3.2 million. Though Sony released the 2006 film and Open Road distributed the 2012 follow up, the low-budget “Return to Silent Hill” was put out by Iconic Events.
In its second week of release, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” dropped swiftly. The Sony release, directed by Nia DaCosta, opened last week to a disappointing $13.3 million in sales despite good reviews. But its second weekend was even worse, dropping 71% with $3.6 million.
Other new releases flopped. Roadside Attractions’ “H Is For Hawk,” starring Claire Foy, took in just $150,000 from 472 theaters. Sony’s “Clika,” about a migrant worker with music aspirations, managed only $1.2 million in 522 locations.
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. “Mercy,” $11.2 million.
2. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $7 million.
3. “Zootopia 2,” $5.7 million.
4. “The Housemaid,” $4.2 million.
5. “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” $3.6 million.
6. “Marty Supreme,” $3.5 million.
7. “Return to Silent Hill,” $2.7 million.
8. “Hamnet,” $2 million.
9. “Lord of the Rings,” $2 million.
10. “Primate,” $1.7 million.
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