This weekend’s box office was quiet by blockbuster standards. The top five barely cracked double digits, and the overall market felt soft across the board. A big reason is timing: the NFL championship games dominated attention and kept a lot of casual moviegoers on their couches instead of in theater seats.

Mercy Opens on Top

Mercy

Mercy debuted with $11.1 million.

In a stronger weekend this would look light for a new release taking first place. Context matters though. With football pulling focus and January box office fatigue fully set in, this is a serviceable start. Not explosive, not embarrassing, just enough to get the conversation going and see if word of mouth can do some heavy lifting in week two.

Read our review of Mercy here.

Avatar: Fire & Ash Still Hanging Around

Avatar: Fire & Ash brought in $7.0 million in its sixth weekend.

The box office drop is noticeable, but the endurance is not shocking. Even when the wider box office is limping along, Pandora continues to pull in premium ticket buyers and late adopters. It is well past its peak, yet it remains a reliable anchor in the top five.

Zootopia 2 Keeps Grinding

Zootopia 2 earned $5.7 million in its ninth weekend.

Families continue to treat it as the safe default, even when attendance overall is down. It is not pulling in big numbers anymore, but it is stubbornly consistent, which is often more valuable than a quick spike.

The Housemaid Stays in the Mix

The Housemaid collected $4.2 million in its sixth weekend.

The numbers are modest, but the film is doing its job. It is sticking around, attracting a steady adult audience, and avoiding the kind of collapse that kills mid budget thrillers. In a slow marketplace, survival is its own kind of win.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Slips into Fifth

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple added $3.6 million in its second weekend.

The horror crowd showed up early, then tapered off quickly, which is typical for the genre. The soft overall box office did it no favors either. Still, it remains visible, and in a weekend this muted, simply staying in the top tier counts for something.

Next Weekend’s Predictions

Next weekend brings the debut of Send Help, which is currently tracking between $12 million and $16 millionat the box office. Realistically, it feels like a $14 million opener.

The marketing push has been surprisingly weak, which is usually a bad sign for a new release trying to break out. Still, the calendar is doing it a huge favor. With no real competition and the box office already running on fumes, it will almost undoubtedly take first place anyway, even if the raw number ends up being nothing to brag about.

As always, we’ll find out next week.

For more Movie news, stay tuned to That Hashtag Show.

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