Despite all the hype, Nia Costa’s elevated horror-zombie 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. (Tuesday actuals will determine the final numbers for all films.) That’s well behind the opening of the last film, 28 Year Later, which posted a three-day debut of $30 million in June 2025, on its way to topping out at $151 million globally. It also came in behind tracking, which showed Bone Temple launching to $20 million domestically.
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. In 2002, 28 Days Later opened to just $10 before transforming into a water-cooler sensation and pushing the boundaries of the zombie genre.
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.
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.
James Cameron’s threequel wasn’t the only Disney release making headlines. Thanksgiving juggernaut Zootopia 2 became the top-animated film of all time globally over the MLK weekend after passing up Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2, not adjusted for inflation. It is also the No. 9 film of all time amont any genre with receipts north of $1.702 billion, including a domestic cume of $390 million and $1,313 billion internationally.
Zootopia 3 came in third with an estimated $12 million for the four days, including $9.2 million for the three.
Lionsgate’s the Syndey Sweeney-Amanda Seyfried vehicle The Housemaid continued to clean up for Lionsgate, falling just 21 percent in its fifth weekend to an estimated $8.6 million for the three days and an estimated $10.2 million for the four days as it jumps the $100 million mark domestically and suits up to jump the $250 million mark sometime this week, an eye-popping feet.
Filmmaker Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme landed in fifth place after 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 earned an estimated $6.7 for the four-day frame, including $5.5 million for the three days. With a domestic tally of $80 million through Sunday, it has now passed up Oscar best-picture winner Everything Everywhere All at One to rank as A24’s top-performing title of all time.
Elsewhere at the specialty and awards box office, Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet — another frontrunner — expanded after it took home best drama at the Golden Globes Jan. 11, dwith Oscar contender Jesse Buckley winning the actress prize. The film, which started off playing in select runs in November, added more runs over Christmas and again this weekend. Playing in 718 theaters this weekend, it earned an estimated $1.6 million for the four days, bringing its domestic total to $15 million. Focus plans further expansion after Oscar nominations are announced. Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes are hitting the awards campaign trail hard for Zhao.
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.