“Avatar: Fire and Ash” stayed on top of the U.K. and Ireland box office for a second straight frame, taking £6.06 million over the weekend ending Dec. 26 and lifting its local total to £20.75 million, according to Comscore figures published by the Film Distributors’ Association.
The holiday chart showed real competition underneath the leader. “The Housemaid” opened in second with £4.42 million, while “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” debuted in third on £3.04 million. Disney’s “Zootropolis 2” placed fourth in its fifth weekend with £1.55 million, pushing its cumulative U.K.-Ireland gross to £22.53 million. “Wicked: For Good” continued to grind in seventh, adding £802,726 for a total of £44.67 million.
The local hold comes as the film keeps leaning on premium tickets worldwide. Studio estimates put “Fire and Ash” at a $345 million global launch, and IMAX said its screens delivered $43.6 million in the film’s opening weekend, with IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond pointing to an “outsized share of the box office across virtually every market worldwide.”
International momentum has helped offset a softer start in North America compared with the previous installment, a point analysts have flagged while stressing the value of the Christmas-to-New Year corridor. “It is a great start for the holiday corridor,” Exhibitor Relations’ Jeff Bock told Reuters, arguing that moviegoing typically surges across the next few weekends.
