Despite all the hype, Nia Costa’s elevated horror-sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple came in behind expectations at the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday box office as Avatar: Fire and Ash won the four-day session with an estimated $17.8 million, including $14.5 million for the three-day weekend proper.
Sony’s The Bone Temple is estimating a four-day debut of $15 million, including $13 million for the three days. That’s far behind the first 28 Years, which posted a three-day opening of $30 million in June, as well as behind the $20 million projection for Bone Temple headed into this weekend.
James Cameron’s Avatar wasn’t the only Disney release making headlines. Thanksgiving juggernaut Zootopia 2 became the top-animated film of all time globally of the MLK weekend after passing up Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2. It is also the ninth-highest film among all times with global receipts north of $1.313 billion.
Avatar 3, now in its fifth weekend, easily stayed iin first place as it races toward the $400 million mark domestically. So far, the film has collected an estimated $358 million domestically and north of $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 remain 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.
Zootopia came in third with an estimated $12 million fo the four days and an estimated $9.2 million for the four-day frame.
Lionsgate’s The Housemaid continued to clean up for Lionsgate, falling just 21 percent in its fifth weekend to an estimated $8 million for the three days and roughly $10 million-plus for the four-day frame as it jumped the $100 million mark domestically.
Filmmaker Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme landed in fifth place after winning several top Golden Globe wins last weekend. From A24, the specialty pic has been an overperformer since its Christmas release, and observers were correct in predicting it would get a bump following Timothée Chalamet’s best actor win at the Globes. It looks to bring in around $6.4 million to $6.8 for the four-day frame, which would bring its d domestic total to a winning $80 million.
Focus Features’ Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, produced by Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, expanded 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 or more for the four-day frame, bringing its domestic total to $15 million. Focus plans further expansion after Oscar nominations are announced.
More to come.
Jan. 18, 8:30 a.m.: Updated with Sunday estimates.Jan. 19, 8:35 a.m.: Updated with Monday estimates.
This story was original published on Jan. 17 at 8:15 a.m.
