“ Avatar: Fire and Ash ” is towering over the domestic box office during the first weekend of the new year.

Just a few months ago, if you had asked any theater owner about their thoughts on what 2026 would bring, you probably would've gotten a bright, optimistic response. More movies are on the way, there are fewer signs of months-long product droughts on the horizon and millions of moviegoers are expected to pour in thanks to the return of the Avengers,

After a roller coaster year, the domestic box office is expected to finish only marginally better than last year and remains down more than 20% from pre-pandemic levels.

PG-rated movies like “Lilo & Stitch” and “A Minecraft Movie” and have been standouts for theaters, while PG-13 staples have been struggling. For many Americans, Thanksgiving is about food, or family, or football. But for some, it’s also about ...

Fire and Ash” has surpassed $1 billion in global box office proceeds, the director’s fourth film to cross that threshold. The film, which returned audiences to the visually stunning planet of Pandora,