A big winter storm is hitting much of the U.S., and it’s making it hard for movies to do well at the box office.
Many places are telling people to stay home. Because of this, total movie ticket sales are expected to be the lowest so far this year. It might also be the first time this weekend’s earnings are lower than the same weekend last year, which was in 2025.
This weekend’s top movie is "Mercy," a new thriller directed by Timur Bekmambetov.
Chris Pratt plays a man on trial for killing his wife. In a creepy twist, he finds out his fate is decided by an AI judge. MGM Amazon Studios thinks the movie will make about $12.6 million, which is what people expected. Some hoped for closer to $15 million.
The storm isn’t the only thing hurting "Mercy."
Critics haven’t given it a lot of praise, and people who saw it didn’t give it a great rating. The CinemaScore is a B-, which is not very good.
Still, "Mercy" has a special win.
It’s the first movie to beat James Cameron’s "Avatar: Fire and Ash" after that film had been number one for five weekends. "Fire and Ash," from 20th Century Fox, is expected to make around $7 million, bringing its total U.S. earnings to about $380 million. Another big movie, "Zootopia 2," is still number three. It’s expected to make $6 million, helping it reach over $400 million in the U.S. And worldwide, it’s already made more than $1.7 billion.
Paul Feig’s movie "The Housemaid," starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, is still doing well for Lionsgate.
It’s number four in its sixth week, making about $6 million. The film is doing especially well with female audiences and has earned more than $250 million worldwide.
On the other hand, Nia DaCosta’s "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" isn’t doing as well.
It opened lower than expected during the MLK Holiday weekend and is now number five with an estimated $4.2 million. Its total U.S. earnings are just over $21 million.
There’s still a chance that movies can do better if they win major awards, but this trend has gotten smaller over time.
Josh Safdie’s "Marty Supreme," which got nine top Oscar nominations, including best picture and best actor for Timothée Chalamet, is still doing well. It’s number six with around $3.5 million, which is a 35% drop from its opening. That’s the second-best drop in the top ten behind Chloé Zhao’s "Hamnet," another Oscar favorite that got eight nominations. "Hamnet" started in a few theaters in November and expanded to over 1,200 theaters this weekend, making about $1.8 million. It has a total of almost $18 million in the U.S.
Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes are both supporting Zhao’s film in the awards season.
Another movie on the list is the 25th-anniversary re-release of Peter Jackson’s "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Warner Bros. and Fathom are running this event together, and they expect it to make around $14 million to $15 million.
Numbers will be updated on Sunday morning.
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