Welcome to the Weekend POURcast
Welcome to the Weekend POURcast, CocktailsandMovies.com’s boozy guide to the box office. Every Friday we look back at what happened last weekend, peek at the new wide releases hitting theaters, check out the biggest new movies landing on streaming, and make a few educated guesses about who will walk away with the weekend crown. Think of it as your pregame briefing before you pick your movie, your seat, and your drink.
Last Weekend in Review: Zootopia 2 still king, Ella McCay face-plants
Last weekend was another reminder that audiences are happy to come out for brands they trust and a little less excited about messy originals.
Disney’s Zootopia 2 bounced back to number one in its third weekend with about $26.3 million, passing $1.1 billion worldwide and cementing itself as one of the year’s true monsters.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 took a steep second-week drop of around 70%, but still scared up roughly $19.5 million, bringing its domestic total just under the $100 million mark and keeping Universal very happy given its mid-range budget.
Wicked: For Good held on in third with about $8.5 million, continuing a very solid holiday run, while Indian crime saga Dhurandhar and heist threequel Now You See Me: Now You Don’t rounded out the top five.
The rough story was James L. Brooks’ Ella McCay, which stumbled out of the gate with roughly $2 million on over 2,500 screens and some of the worst reviews of the director’s career. Critics have called it clunky and overstuffed, and audiences clearly decided to wait until it hits home platforms, if at all.
So yes, last weekend was basically “franchises rule, originals drool.” This weekend, Hollywood is betting that one very big blue franchise can drag the entire month across the finish line.
New in Theaters (Wide Releases Only)
Avatar: Fire and Ash
The main event. James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash lands as the last giant tentpole of 2025, with tracking pointing to a $100 to $120 million opening weekend.
Early reviews say it might be the strongest of the series, leaning hard into grief, revenge, and the volcanic Ash People that give the film its title. Cameron is out there promising real stakes and more character deaths, which is exactly the kind of talk that gets fans to book premium screens early.
Expect PLF and 3D tickets to drive a huge chunk of the gross, and expect every other studio to politely get out of the way.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
On the family side, Paramount brings The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, the fourth theatrical SpongeBob outing and the first proper big screen adventure since 2015. Reviews so far are warm, praising the Flying Dutchman storyline and Mark Hamill’s voice work.
Boxoffice Pro has it pegged for a $25 to $30 million debut, which would be a solid holiday start and should give families an alternative if Zootopia fatigue is setting in.
The Housemaid
Lionsgate’s The Housemaid is the counter-programming play, an adult-skewing thriller based on Freida McFadden’s hit novel. Forecasts put it in the $20 to $25 million range, which would be a nice win for a mid-budget, twisty, “airport paperback” style potboiler anchored by Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried. Critics have been surprisingly positive, calling it trashy fun in the best way.
David
Faith-based animation David from Angel Studios is the wild card. Tracking suggests $15 to $20 million, with the usual expectation of an A or A+ CinemaScore and strong word of mouth from church groups. If SpongeBob or The Housemaid come in soft, David could sneak into the top three.
Box Office POURcast: Our Top 5 Prediction
Taking all the tracking and word of mouth into account, here is how we think the domestic box office leaderboard will look from Friday through Sunday. Travel and bad weather COULD keep people away, though:
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Avatar: Fire and Ash – around $125 million
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The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants – $32 million
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The Housemaid – $17 million
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David – $10 million
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Zootopia 2 – $9 million as it finally starts to ease off its insane run
Freddy’s 2 and Wicked should still be in the mix just below, but the sheer size of Avatar plus a fresh family option in SpongeBob are going to shove a lot of holdovers down a rung.
New At-Home Pours: Movies New to Streaming
If fighting for reclining seats is not your vibe this weekend, you actually have a pretty rich menu at home too.
From December 16th through this weekend, here are the biggest new movies hitting the major services and VOD:
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Relay (Netflix) – A tense whistleblower thriller with Riz Ahmed and Lily James that critics loved but audiences mostly missed in theaters. Early reviews call it sharp, twisty, and one of the year’s better grown up thrillers.
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The Great Flood (Netflix) – A Korean sci fi disaster movie about a mother and son trapped in a flooding high rise as the world drowns outside. Looks grim, stylish, and very binge ready.
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Him (Peacock) – Psychological sports horror with Marlon Wayans as a legendary quarterback running a very creepy training compound. The movie was divisive but has big cult potential if you like your sports stories with a side of dread.
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It Was Just An Accident (PVOD, major digital platforms) – A Cannes winning Iranian thriller finally getting a wider audience at home. Heavy, political, and one of the year’s most acclaimed films.
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Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (PVOD) – The third Four Horsemen caper, complete with ridiculous magic heists and the full gang back together. Perfect “background hang with friends” movie.
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The Running Man (PVOD) – Edgar Wright’s Stephen King adaptation did not quite land theatrically, but the Glen Powell dystopian game-show thriller may find its true audience on the couch.
That is a nice mix of prestige, pulp, and pure popcorn if you are queueing up something after a night at the multiplex.
Final Pour
So there’s the vibe for December 19 to 21: the industry is basically handing the keys to Avatar: Fire and Ash and asking it to drag 2025’s box office to a respectable finish, while SpongeBob and David fight for the family crowd and The Housemaid gives date night audiences something nasty to sip on. Holdovers like Zootopia 2 and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 will still be lurking, but the board is resetting for the holidays.
Whether you are grabbing 3D glasses for Pandora, popcorn for Bikini Bottom, or just a blanket and the remote for a Netflix thriller, you are covered. Pick your pour, pick your picture, and we will see you back here next week to see how the numbers shook out.
