Chris Pratt led the domestic box office Friday with Amazon MGM’s “Mercy,” the only major newcomer of the weekend. The sci-fi thriller threatens to end the winning streak of Avatar: Fire and Ash, which has topped the North American charts for the past five weekends.
“Mercy” grossed $5 million in domestic sales on its first day of release at 3,468 stores. The film is expected to gross $12.6 million by Sunday.
Pratt leads Mercy as Chris Raven, a detective from the not-too-distant future who is on trial for the murder of his wife, played by Annabelle Wallis. The AI judge, played by Rebecca Ferguson, gives him 90 minutes to prove his innocence or be summarily executed. Timur Bekmambetov, a familiar face in the Screen Life subgenre, is directing this film from a script by Marko Van Bell.
Avatar: Fire and Ash added $1.7 million in its sixth Friday at the domestic box office. James Cameron’s sci-fi trilogy is expected to collect an estimated $7.1 million over the weekend, taking its North American total to $378 million.
Unless the tide changes, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will cede the box office throne before the end of its sixth theatrical weekend. The original Avatar and its sequel, The Way of Water, both remained at number one through their seventh week, grossing well over $2 billion.
Lionsgate’s domestic thriller “The Housemaid” came in third place on Friday with $1.48 million. The domestic total is expected to reach $115 million by the end of the week. The film adaptation of Frieda McFadden’s meandering novel was a sleeper hit during the holidays and beyond, far exceeding its $35 million price tag. Naturally, a sequel is in the works, starring Sidney Sweeney and director Paul Feig.
Rounding out Friday’s top five were Disney’s box office blockbuster “Zootopia 2” and Sony’s zombie thriller “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.”
In fourth place was Zootopia 2, which earned $1.4 million in its ninth Friday in North American theaters. The animated sequel is expected to gross an estimated $5.9 million by the end of the week, with a domestic box office total of $401 million.
“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” finished last at the domestic box office on its second Friday in theaters with just $1.2 million. Sony’s horror-thriller had a soft opening last weekend with $13 million, compared to estimates of $20 million to $22 million based on the Martin Luther King Jr. Days slot. “The Bone Temple” is priced at $63 million, but is expected to add $4.2 million (down 68%) by Sunday, bringing its domestic total to $21 million.
