The US domestic box office delivered a weekend that neatly captured the contradictions of the modern theatrical marketplace. Scale and familiarity once again proved their strength, while originality and mid-budget ambition struggled to find oxygen. At the center of that contrast sat Disney, simultaneously enjoying the rewards of a billion-dollar animated franchise and absorbing the sting of one of its weakest wide debuts in years.
Returning to the top of the charts in its third weekend, Zootopia 2 collected an estimated $26.3 million, reclaiming the No. 1 position after briefly yielding ground last frame. The animated sequel’s ability to rebound is a textbook example of how family titles behave in December: flexible viewing windows, repeat attendance, and minimal erosion during competitive weekends. Having already crossed the $1 billion mark globally, the film is now operating in pure momentum mode, where week-to-week placement matters less than cumulative endurance. For exhibitors, this is the kind of title that quietly stabilizes footfalls while flashier releases come and go.
Universal’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, last weekend’s chart-topper, slipped to second place with $19.5 million. The drop is neither surprising nor alarming. Horror sequels, particularly those driven by young audiences, are inherently front-loaded, and the film has already done the bulk of its commercial heavy lifting. What matters now is not whether it can hold the top spot, but whether it continues to add meaningful revenue against a tightly controlled budget. On that front, the sequel remains firmly in win territory, reinforcing the ongoing reliability of video game adaptations when they respect their core fan base.
Holding third, Wicked: For Good added $8.55 million, continuing one of the steadiest runs of the season. The musical sequel has settled into a rhythm defined by consistency rather than spectacle. Its audience profile—broader age range, higher repeat viewing, and strong premium-format play—has insulated it from the sharper drops seen by more hype-dependent titles. As December progresses, Wicked: For Good is shaping up as a long-haul performer rather than a short-burst hit, the kind studios quietly value even if it doesn’t dominate headlines.
One of the weekend’s more notable placements came from outside Hollywood’s usual lanes. Distributed by Yash Raj Films Dhurandhar secured fourth place with $3.5 million, a strong result for an Indian film in the US market.
Rounding out the top five, Lionsgate’s Now You See Me: Now You Don’t earned $2.38 million. The film’s trajectory suggests diminishing returns for the franchise, which has struggled to recapture the novelty and energy of its earlier installments. It remains serviceable, but its ceiling is clearly defined, and its presence in the top tier feels more habitual than urgent.
Just behind, GKIDS’ Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution continued to demonstrate the dependable floor of anime releases with $2.1 million. While not an event on the scale of the franchise’s biggest outings, the film’s sustained visibility reinforces a broader trend: anime, when positioned as a theatrical experience rather than a niche import, delivers predictable and repeatable results. In an increasingly risk-averse exhibition climate, that predictability counts.
The weekend’s most sobering story, however, belongs to Ella McCay. Opening to approximately $2.1 million, the Disney-backed political dramedy landed near the bottom of the chart, marking one of the weakest wide debuts in the studio’s recent history. Produced for a comparatively restrained $35 million, the film was never expected to compete with tentpoles, but its performance underscores a harsher truth about contemporary theatrical habits. Mid-budget, adult-oriented dramas—once a staple of studio slates—have largely lost their footing in cinemas.
Critical rejection and muted audience response compounded the problem, but the underlying issue runs deeper than reviews or marketing. Ella McCay represents the type of film that increasingly struggles to justify a theatrical outing in an era where audiences reserve theater visits for spectacle, familiarity, or communal event viewing. Its stumble is less an anomaly than a confirmation of how narrow the theatrical lane has become for such projects.
Elsewhere on the chart, seasonal and specialty titles filled out the lower ranks. Universal’s evergreen How the Grinch Stole Christmas added $1.85 million, benefiting from early holiday rotations. A24’s Eternity ($1.77 million) and Focus Features’ Hamnet ($1.49 million) continued their measured specialty runs, prioritizing awards visibility over raw volume. Genre holdovers like Silent Night, Deadly Night and Predator lingered at the margins, contributing incremental business without reshaping the overall picture.