Box Office: 'Mufasa' and 'Sonic 3' Top Friday as 'Wicked' Passes 'E.T.' And 'Nosferatu' Continues To Bite And Suck

'Se7en' returns to Imax and the adult-skewing likes of 'A Complete Unknown' and 'Babygirl' all post terrific post-holiday holds amid no major new releases.

While 2025 is starting with exactly zero significant new releases, it’s worth noting that the holdovers we do have in the marketplace are comparatively strong performers. No, we don’t have a single Star Wars or even Aquaman-sized mega-movie. We have a plethora of movies of all shapes and sizes, targeting multiple demographics and performing at least as well as they need to concerning budget and expectations. In a healthy marketplace where theatrical isn’t in zero-sum peril, I couldn’t care less about the overall cumulative box office and instead focus on how each film is performing on its own merits. And in that sense, the new year is starting pretty well. The domestic box office will reach around $106 million for the weekend compared to the $88 million first weekend of 2024 and the Avatar 2 *and* M3GAN-fueled $106 million first weekend of 2023.