‘28 Years, One Bone Temple, and Avatar’s Cosmic Clout: What the MLK Weekend Box Office Really Means for Hollywood’s Future!’
Added on January 18, 2026 inMovie News Cards
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Ever wonder if Mercury in retrograde might be throwing a wrench into Hollywood’s box office mojo? Because it sure feels like Sony’s latest brainchild, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, showed up fashionably late — and behind expectations — this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. While the franchise’s sophomore installment trudges through with a modest $15 million over four days (far shy from its predecessor’s headline-grabbing $30 million debut), the reigning box office mammoth, Avatar: Fire and Ash, simply refuses to hand over the crown, strutting to a $17 million triumph and a jaw-dropping global haul north of $1.23 billion. Talk about cosmic timing — is this a sign that sometimes the stars aren’t aligned for new thrillers? Or maybe the cinematic cosmos just are craving a little less bone and a bit more fire. Whatever the universe’s take, Sony’s clinging to hope that stellar reviews and word of mouth will ignite Bone Temple’s rise, especially with Nia DaCosta steering the ship and heavy hitters like Ralph Fiennes on board. But will the box office gods answer their prayers? Only time (and this weekend’s ticket sales) will tell. LEARN MORE
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is coming in behind expectations as the sole new wide entry at the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday box office, where holdover Avatar: Fire and Ash will win the four-day weekend.
Sony’s The Bone Temple is looking to notch $15 million during the four-day frame, and a $13 million three-day number. That’s far behind the first 28 Years, which opened to a $30 million three-day number in June, and behind the $20 million four-day number projected for Bone Temple going into the weekend.
Avatar 3, now in its fifth weekend, is expected to win with a $17 million four-day figure. So far, the film has collected $353.4 million domestically and more than $1.23 billion globally.
The 28 Years Later franchise hails from director Boyle and writer Alex Garland, who brought the film series to Sony after a heated bidding war. Filmmaker Nia DaCosta is in the director’s chair for Bone Temple, the second part in a planned trilogy, with Sony saying last month that it will make a third installment with Cillian Murphy — star of the original 28 Days Later — with Boyle returning to direct. It is not known how this opening weekend could change that calculus.
Sony insiders are hopeful that word of mouth could give Bone Temple legs. The feature earned strong reviews (94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), an A- CinemaScore (a rare high grade for a horror film) and a 4.5 PostTrak rating. Bone Temple stars Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman and Chi Lewis-Parry.
Disney Animation’s animated juggernaut Zootopia 2 became the top-grossing animated film of all time globally, topping Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2, and the No. 9 highest grossing film of all time with $1.313 billion global haul. It ends its eighth weekend at the domestic box office in the No. 3 spot with a projected $11.6 million for the four-day frame.
Lionsgate’s The Housemaid fell just 22 percent in its fifth weekend, and is expected to come in fourth place with $10.1 million for the four-day frame, bringing its domestic haul to $108.7 million.
Filmmaker Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme lands at No. 5. It has been an overperformer since its Christmas release, and observers were curious if it would get a bump following Timothée Chalamet’s best actor win at the Globes. It looks to bring in around $6.9 million for the four-day frame, which would bring the domestic total to a winning $80 million.
And Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet expands after it took home best drama at the Golden Globes Jan. 11, with Oscar contender Jesse Buckley winning the actress prize. The film, which opened in limited release over Thanksgiving, upped its count to 718 theaters this weekend and is expected to bring in $1.6 million for the four-day frame, bringing its domestic total to $15 million. Focus Features plans further expansion after Oscar nominations are announced.
Jan. 18, 8:30 a.m.: Updated with Sunday figures.
This story was original published on Jan. 17 at 8:15 a.m.
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