The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend offered a clear snapshot of where the US box office stands at the start of 2026. Rather than delivering a breakout new opener, the long weekend reinforced a trend that has been steadily solidifying over the past year: longevity now matters more than launch. Leading that narrative once again was Avatar: Fire and Ash, which topped the domestic chart for a fifth consecutive weekend.
The 20th Century Studios tentpole grossed an estimated $14.5 million over the three-day weekend and approximately $17.8 million across the four-day holiday frame. With only a 33 percent weekend-to-weekend drop, the film pushed its domestic total past $364 million and continues to inch toward the $400 million milestone. At this stage of its run, Fire and Ash is no longer playing like a front-loaded event film but like a sustained premium attraction, driven by repeat viewings, large-format screens, and steady audience retention.
The weekend’s most closely watched debut, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, landed in second place with an estimated $13 million for the three-day weekend and $15 million across the four days. While those numbers are respectable by most standards, they came in below pre-release tracking and well behind expectations set by the previous installment in the franchise. The softer opening was particularly notable given the film’s strong critical response and positive audience metrics, suggesting that prestige and brand recognition did not automatically translate into urgency at the box office.
The result underscores a growing challenge for franchise continuations that sit outside the traditional four-quadrant blockbuster space. Even with strong reviews and franchise pedigree, audiences are increasingly selective about when — or whether — to show up on opening weekend. In the current market, curiosity alone appears insufficient to generate breakout debuts.
In third place, Zootopia 2 once again demonstrated the durability of animated event titles. The film dipped just 8 percent in its eighth weekend, earning $9.2 million and lifting its domestic total to roughly $390 million. While it no longer dominates headlines week to week, its consistency highlights how family releases have become the most reliable long-term performers in the theatrical ecosystem, quietly accumulating massive totals through sustained play.
One of the weekend’s strongest performers relative to expectations remained The Housemaid, which fell a modest 21 percent in its fifth weekend. The Lionsgate release added $8.6 million over three days and crossed the $107 million domestic mark, a notable achievement for a mid-budget adult-skewing title. Its run continues to reinforce the idea that word of mouth and audience trust can still drive meaningful theatrical success without the benefit of franchise branding or massive marketing spend.
Awards-season momentum also played a role, albeit in a measured way, for Marty Supreme, which held firmly inside the Top 5 during the MLK weekend. The film has now officially become A24’s highest-grossing movie in North America, crossing the $80 million mark domestically. In doing so, it overtook Everything Everywhere All at Once, which previously held the studio’s domestic record at $77 million. While Everything Everywhere All at Once remains A24’s highest-grossing title worldwide with $142 million, Marty Supreme’s achievement underscores the studio’s growing ability to build sustained theatrical hits beyond awards-driven spikes. Alex Garland’s Civil War, meanwhile, stands as A24’s second-biggest global release with $127 million worldwide, highlighting how the company’s commercial ceiling has expanded significantly in recent years.
Further down the chart, the weekend exposed the market’s lack of patience for films that fail to connect quickly. Sharp second-weekend drops for titles like Primate and Greenland 2: Migration highlighted how swiftly audiences move on when word of mouth turns soft. In contrast, re-releases of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers found space in the Top 10, delivering solid per-theatre averages and reaffirming the value of legacy programming during crowded release windows.
Taken together, the MLK weekend results paint a picture of a US box office that has recalibrated its priorities. Openings are increasingly volatile, while sustained performance has become the clearest indicator of success. Premium tentpoles, family films, and well-received mid-budget titles are thriving not because of explosive debuts, but because audiences are willing to return over time.
As Avatar: Fire and Ash continues its steady march through the domestic charts, the message from this holiday frame is unmistakable: in today’s theatrical marketplace, retention has replaced rush, and endurance is now the most valuable currency at the box office.
Box office figures mentioned above are based on early studio estimates and industry tracking. Final numbers may change as updated actuals are reported. Detailed weekend data has been sourced from The Numbers.
