Key Takeaways
- Box Office Dominance: Avatar: Fire and Ash is projected to lead the box office with earnings between $21–24 million this weekend.
- Surprise Competition: Zootopia 2 and The Housemaid are closely competing for the second spot, both expected to earn around $10–11 million.
- Modest Openings: New releases Primate and Greenland 2: Migration have had modest openings, with earnings of $11 million and $8.5 million respectively.
- Streaming Potential: Primate, featuring an unknown cast, is anticipated to perform better on streaming platforms.
While some believed Paramount’s killer chimp movie Primate had the potential to become a sleeper hit this weekend, it looks like holiday holdovers are still dominating the top spots. Just as we predicted, Avatar: Fire and Ash will easily take the top spot, with Deadline reporting that it’s looking at a weekend that could fall anywhere between $21–24 million, which would bring its domestic total past $345 million.
Zootopia 2 and The Housemaid battle it out for number 2
Yet, the runner-up spot may prove to be the real surprise this weekend, with Zootopia 2 and the Sydney Sweeney–led The Housemaid duking it out for runner-up. Both movies should finish in the $10–11 million range, with it anyone’s guess who will take number two. For The Housemaid, this marks a 30% week-to-week decline, which is an amazing hold. The film is coming really close to the $100 million mark and will likely surpass it by this time next week. As a result, Lionsgate has already signed Sweeney to reprise her role in a sequel, which seems like it’s being rushed into production this year.
Primate and Greenland 2 have modest openings
Both newcomers this week, Primate and Greenland 2: Migration, sport modest budgets, so even if they didn’t set the box office on fire, they did relatively well. Primate probably underperformed a bit, making $11 million, but it features an unknown cast and will likely be a bigger hit on streaming. Greenland 2: Migration is getting a very quiet rollout, with it not screening for critics, even though a lot of them actually dug the movie — including our own Tyler Nichols. It’s on track for an $8.5 million opening, with Lionsgate having only paid $10 million to acquire it domestically. It’s not opening in Canada, instead heading straight to streaming, similar to the first film. Both Primate and Greenland 2 got B-minus CinemaScores. Considering Primate is a horror film, which notoriously gets awful scores, that’s not a terrible result, although Greenland’s exits could be better.
What are you seeing this weekend? Let us know in the comments.
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