The domestic box office in its fifth weekend of release saw James Cameron's highly anticipated "Avatar: Fire and Ash" firmly hold its No. 1 position, proving to be an insurmountable challenge for new releases, including "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple." While "Avatar: Fire and Ash" continued its reign with $13.3 million over the weekend and a projected $17.2 million through the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day frame, its momentum appears to be decelerating compared to its predecessors. So far, the third Na'vi adventure has amassed $363.5 million domestically and an impressive $1.31 billion globally. However, it is running out of steam faster than the first two films, 2009's "Avatar" ($2.9 billion) and 2022's "Avatar: The Way of Water" ($2.3 billion), both standing as cinematic giants.

Conversely, "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple," the fourth installment in Sony’s dystopian franchise, stumbled in its debut. It collected a disappointing $13 million over the weekend and a projected $15 million over the four-day period, falling significantly below industry expectations of $20 million to $22 million. Globally, the film added $16.2 million from 61 overseas territories, bringing its worldwide total to $31.1 million. Despite strong critical reviews (93% on Rotten Tomatoes) and positive audience scores (an "A-" CinemaScore), the film's performance was notably lower than its predecessor, "28 Years Later," which opened to $30 million just last June. Experts attribute this decline to audience fatigue, citing the rapid seven-month turnaround between installments. Directed by Nia DaCosta and written by series creator Alex Garland, "The Bone Temple" continues the narrative of a Rage Virus ravaging a post-apocalyptic Britain, bringing back Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, and Alfie Williams. The film, with a production cost of $63 million before marketing, is the most expensive in the franchise, making its underperformance a concern for Sony.

The "Avatar" franchise's latest installment, while a theatrical juggernaut, also faces questions regarding its long-term trajectory. "Avatar 3" has passed several blockbusters globally, including the divisive 2018 sci-fi sequel "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," which concluded its run with $1.3 billion worldwide and carried a reported production cost of $465 million. "Avatar 3" itself cost a reported $400 million to produce and opened to the least enthusiastic reviews of the trilogy, settling at a 66% score on Rotten Tomatoes, where critics noted its reliance on repeating narrative beats despite cutting-edge visual effects. Directed by James Cameron, with a screenplay by Amanda Silver, Rick Jaffa, James Cameron, Josh Friedman, and Shane Salerno, and produced by Jon Landau and James Cameron, the film stars Sam Worthington as Jake Sully and Zoe Saldana as Neytiri. Despite Cameron's initial five-film plan, the future of the "Avatar" franchise beyond its current run remains uncertain given the slightly diminished returns.

Beyond the top two, the box office showcased a mix of holdovers and new entries. Disney’s animated sequel "Zootopia 2" continued its impressive run, securing third place with $9 million over the weekend and $11.6 million through Monday in its eighth weekend. The film has accumulated $392 million domestically and an astonishing $1.7 billion globally, making it the highest-grossing animated Hollywood film of all time, surpassing "Inside Out 2" ($1.69 billion).

Fourth place went to Lionsgate’s psychological thriller "The Housemaid," starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried. It earned $8.5 million over the weekend and an estimated $10.1 million over the four-day frame, pushing its North American total to $108.7 million and global earnings to $247.3 million against a modest $35 million budget. This strong performance has already led to a sequel, "The Housemaid’s Secret," being greenlit with Sweeney and director Paul Feig attached.

A24's "Marty Supreme" took fifth place, garnering $5.4 million over the weekend and a projected $6.6 million through Monday. With $80.8 million at the domestic box office, it has surpassed "Everything Everywhere All at Once" ($77 million) to become A24’s highest-grossing film in North America. Globally, it has earned $97 million, although "Everything Everywhere" remains A24's top worldwide release at $142 million.

Other notable performances include Neon’s dark comedy "No Other Choice," directed by Park Chan-wook, which grossed $2.2 million over the weekend ($2.8 million through Monday) and has a domestic total of $6.9 million. Chloe Zhao’s Shakespearean tragedy "Hamnet," which won a Golden Globe for best motion picture drama and best actress for Jessie Buckley, added $1.3 million over the weekend ($1.6 million through Monday) for a strong $15 million domestically and $27.5 million globally. Gus Van Sant’s crime thriller "Dead Man’s Wire," a new release from Row K, collected $1 million over the weekend ($1.2 million through Monday) in its nationwide expansion.

Finally, a major re-release saw Peter Jackson’s "Lord of the Rings" trilogy return to theaters for the 25th anniversary of "The Fellowship of the Ring." The re-release earned $8 million over the weekend and a projected $9.5 million through Monday, with Fathom Entertainment splitting the sales across the three films. Despite record pre-sales, these figures were slightly behind the company’s last "LOTR" re-release in 2024, which grossed $8.2 million over the traditional weekend.