Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | December 22, 2025
It’s always a bad move to bet against James Cameron. The man has an uncanny ability to make all of the money, and he’s been doing so for decades. He’s that rare filmmaker who gets massive amounts of money to do what he wants and spins it into eye-wateringly high grosses. There’s a reason we’re now onto our third Avatar movie, despite the endless discourse over whether or not it’s left behind a cultural footprint. That first movie is still the highest-grossing film ever made, and The Way of Water is number three, ahead of Titanic. So, how has Avatar: Fire & Ash fared?
Well! But with an asterisk. The film easily took the top spot at the box office this past weekend. It brought in $88 million from 3,800 cinemas, which is four times what its closest competition managed. But that is a noticeable drop from the opening weekend of its predecessor. The Way of Water made $134 million in its first week domestically. But these are movies that do well in the long-haul. They spend a long dang time in theatres, usually being the biggest draw over the dry January and February months. It won’t have a ton of competition over the coming weeks either. There’s no big superhero movie or Disney remake for Christmas. It’s facing off against Anaconda!
These movies are largely for international crowds anyway, and so far, Avatar: Fire & Ash has $345 million in the kitty. Again, that’s a lot less than the $435 million of its predecessor’s worldwide opening, but it’s also easily one of the biggest debuts of 2025. Still, James Cameron has been tentative to confirm a fourth movie, despite his reported plans for a quintet of Na’vi lore, so maybe Disney is ready to leave Pandora if this one doesn’t get to $2 billion.
At number two is David, an animated Bible tale from Angel Studios. Tis the season and all that, so it pulled in a very impressive $22 million. That was enough to put it over The Housemaid, the adaptation of the wildly popular Freida McFadden novel, starring Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney. That one made $18.95 million, which is also impressive, especially for a mid-budget adult thriller. We don’t get a lot of those films in theatres these days.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants leaped into theatres for the kids and millennials who don’t like aliens or the Bible. The always-enduring Nickelodeon franchise still has legs, and it earned $16 million.
Timothee Chalamet has been working overtime to promote Marty Supreme, his unconventional ping pong biopic by Josh Safdie. It’s clearly working, or at least Timmy is now at that level of fame where he can command a loyal audience, because this one earned $875,000 from six locations. That’s a per-theatre average of $145,833! This is a tough sell for a wider audience, mind you, and it’s also A24’s most expensive movie, budgeted at a reported $60 to 70 million. Can it do well once it expands to a mainstream audience? Timmy, you’ll have to dance for your supper.
At number 19 is Is This Thing On?, directed by Bradley Cooper and starring Will Arnett, with $145,000 from six cinemas. That’s solid, but I’m curious to see how this one does as it expands. Reviews were good but not spectacular, especially when compared to Cooper’s other directorial efforts, but it is cool to see him make something shaggier and less prestige-baity.
The Voice of Hind Rajab is a film based on the true story of a group of Red Crescent volunteers in Gaza who try to save a little girl before she is killed by the IDF. It earned $36,250 from two places. It’s being distributed by the indie company WILLA, which acquired the film after most major North American distributors passed on doing so.
This coming week sees the release of Anaconda, starring Jack Black, the Neil Diamond tribute act biopic Song Sung Blue, South Korean drama No Other Choice, and the musical drama The Testament of Ann Lee.
You can check out the rest of the weekend box office numbers here.
