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Moviegoers’ appetite for zombies was way less than Hollywood handicappers expected, keeping AVATAR 3 in first place over MLK Weekend.

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH, from 20th Century Studios/Lightstorm Entertainment & James Cameron, held on to #1 in weekend five, down 38% with $13.3M (four days: $17.2M) at 3,300 theatres ($4,036), per Comscore. It’s done $363.5 M domestic and $1.32B worldwide. BUDGET BUZZ: $400M to produce.

Sony’s R rated zombie thriller 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE opened to $13M (four days: $15M) at 3,506 theatres ($3,708), per Comscore. That was a lot less flesh on the BONE than the $20-22M industry BUZZards were buzzing about.

Directed by Nia Dacosta (CANDYMAN), BONE’s tracking best for first choice with men over 25 (four points over norm). Rotten Tomatoes critics are cheering at 93% and so are audiences at 89%. BUDGET BUZZ: $63M to produce.

The franchise’s last episode, 28 YEARS LATER, opened 6/20/25 to $30M domestic and did $151.3M worldwide on a budget of $60M.

BONE faced no competition for ticket sales from other MLK Weekend openings since the studios didn’t go after non-thriller audiences. Its under-performance may reflect the limited appeal of the gorier zombie sub-genre to horror movie fans.

Domestic ticket sales were $84.9M for three days, according to Comscore Head of Marketplace Trends Paul Dergarabedian. That’s down 14.3% from the prior weekend, but up 6% vs. this time last year. Comscore’s year to date tally has 2026 at $447.7M, up 19.87% from $373.5M in 2025. The prior weekend had 2026 up 22.97% vs. 2025.

Meanwhile, back at the multiplexes holdovers ruled: Disney’s ZOOTOPIA 2 was #3 in weekend eight with $8.8M, down 12% (four days: $12M) at 3,100 theatres ($2,829). It’s done $390M domestic & $1.31B worldwide.

Lionsgate’s THE HOUSEMAID was fourth in weekend four with $8.5M, down 22% (four days: $10.1M at 3,101 theatres ($). It’s done $107.1M domestic. BUDGET BUZZ: $35M to produce.

A24’s R rated awards contender MARTY SUPREME, starring Timothée Chalamet, finished #5 in weekend four, off 27% with $5.5M (four days: $7M) at 2,027 theatres ($2,702). It’s done $79.7M domestic. BUDGET BUZZ: $70M to produce.

Paramount’s R rated thriller PRIMATE was #6 in weekend two, down 55% to $5M (four days: $6M) at 2,964 theatres ($1,687). It’s done $19.6M domestic. BUDGET BUZZ: $21M to produce.

Next weekend (1/16/26) 🐝🐝🐝🐝: Amazon MGM Studios/Atlas Entertainment’s R rated action crime drama MERCY is opening at about 3,000 theatres. It’s tracking below norm for first choice with all demos.

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov (PROFILE), MERCY is set in the near future when Chris Pratt is a detective on trial with just 90 minutes to avoid execution by convincing an AI judge (Rebecca Ferguson) that he didn’t murder his wife.