Hey everyone! So guess what happened this weekend? A HUGE snowstorm blanketed like half the country! ❄️ From Texas all the way up to Maine! It was crazy!
Because of all that snow, going to the movies was super quiet. Like, the quietest weekend of the whole year quiet! But something really surprising still happened at the box office!
📢 The Big News Flash!
A brand new movie called "MERCY" just dethroned the king! It kicked "Avatar: Fire and Ash" right off the #1 spot where it had been sitting for a whole month! Can you believe that?
🎬 So What's "Mercy" All About?
Okay so let me tell you about this movie. It's called "Mercy" and it's a sci-fi thriller. It cost about $60 million to make! That's a lot of money!
It stars Chris Pratt - you know, the guy from Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World? Yeah, him! And here's the cool part...
In the movie, it's set in the near future. And Chris Pratt's character has to go on trial. But get this - the judge is an Artificial Intelligence! A robot judge! 🤖⚖️
😬 The Not-So-Good News...
Even though it sounds cool, critics didn't really like it. On Rotten Tomatoes, it only got 20% fresh. And regular people who saw it in theaters gave it a "B-" grade on CinemaScore.
That's like getting a C+ on your report card. Not awesome, but hey, it still became #1!
💰 How Much Money Did It Make?
Despite the bad reviews and all that snow, "Mercy" made $11.2 million in North America this weekend. That was enough to take the crown!
👋 Bye Bye Avatar (For Now)
So the movie that got beat is "Avatar: Fire and Ash." This is the third big Avatar movie from James Cameron. You know, with the blue people on Pandora? 🟦
It made $7 million this weekend, putting it in second place. It's starting to slow down here at home, but guess what?
In other countries around the world, it's still doing SUPER well! It made $28.1 million internationally this weekend alone!
📊 Avatar Movies Comparison
| Movie | Worldwide Total | How Big Is It? |
|---|---|---|
| Avatar (2009) | $2.9 Billion | 🏆 HUGE Blockbuster! |
| Avatar: The Way of Water | $2.3 Billion | 🌟 Massive Success! |
| Avatar: Fire & Ash | $1 Billion+ | ✅ Big Hit (But Smaller) |
🏆 Oscar Nominees Doing Their Thing
You know the Oscar nominations came out last Thursday? Well, back in the old days, movies used to get this "Oscar bump" where lots of people would go see them after they got nominated.
That doesn't happen as much anymore, but some nominated movies are still doing pretty good!
🎭 "Hamnet" - 8 Nominations!
This movie got nominated for 8 Oscars, including Best Picture! It's about Shakespeare's family. 🎭
It made $2 million in its first weekend of wide release. It's been slowly growing for two months now!
🎸 "Marty Supreme" - 9 Nominations!
This one got 9 Oscar nods! It stars Timothée Chalamet. In its sixth weekend, it made $3.5 million.
And guess what? This week it crossed $100 million globally! That's awesome for this kind of movie!
😬 Other Movies Had a Rough Weekend
Not every movie was celebrating this weekend. Some really struggled, especially with all that snow keeping people home.
👻 "Return to Silent Hill"
This is a new horror movie based on the video game. It's actually the third movie in the series! But it only made $3.2 million. Not a great return to that scary town!
😱 "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple"
This one had a REALLY bad second weekend. Last week it opened with $13.3 million (which was already disappointing). This weekend? It dropped 71% and only made $3.6 million! Yikes!
💔 Total Flops
Some movies just didn't make any money at all:
- "H Is For Hawk" with Claire Foy: Only $150,000 from 472 theaters! 😬
- "Clika" about a migrant worker: Only $1.2 million from 522 locations. Not good!
🏆 The Official Top 10 Box Office List
Here's how all the movies stacked up from Friday to Sunday. This is the estimated list!
| Rank | Movie Title | Weekend Cash | What's Happening? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 1 | Mercy | $11.2M | NEW! Took #1 despite bad reviews! |
| 🥈 2 | Avatar: Fire & Ash | $7.0M | Fell to #2 after 4 weeks on top |
| 🥉 3 | Zootopia 2 | $5.7M | Still popular with families! 🦊 |
| 4 | The Housemaid | $4.2M | Holding steady in 4th place |
| 5 | 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple | $3.6M | Big drop! Down 71% 😱 |
| 6 | Marty Supreme | $3.5M | Oscar nominee doing well! 🏆 |
| 7 | Return to Silent Hill | $2.7M | NEW horror movie, soft opening |
| 8 | Hamnet | $2.0M | Oscar nominee in wide release 🎭 |
| 9 | Lord of the Rings | $2.0M | Re-release still finding fans 🧙♂️ |
| 10 | Primate | $1.7M | Hanging on in top 10 🐒 |
🤔 My Thoughts on All This...
So here's what I think about this whole situation:
- Weather matters A LOT! A giant snowstorm means empty theaters. No surprise there!
- People want something NEW! Even with bad reviews, "Mercy" was the new thing, so people went to see it.
- Avatar can't stay #1 forever! Everything has to end sometime, even for blue aliens!
- Oscar movies are doing okay! Not amazing, but holding their own.
❓ Question for YOU!
What movie would YOU go see in a snowstorm? Would you brave the cold to see Chris Pratt fight a robot judge? Or would you just stay home and watch Netflix? Let me know in the comments below! 👇
🎬 Wrapping It Up
So that's the box office news for this super snowy weekend! "Mercy" is the surprise winner, Avatar got knocked down, and a bunch of movies struggled because of the weather.
Next weekend will be interesting! Will "Mercy" stay on top? Will something else surprise us? We'll have to wait and see!
Thanks for reading, everyone! Stay warm out there! ❄️☃️