‘Avatar’, ‘David,’ ‘SpongeBob’ & ‘Zootopia 2’ Power Through Pre-Christmas Box Office Weekend

Cutting-edge CGI ruled the box office this weekend, which saw the openings of several chart-topping major studio releases. Riding into the top spot was the latest in James Cameron’s tech-fueled space fantasy, Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios), which swept through 3,800 theaters to a three-day domestic total of $88 million (Fri: $36.5M, Sat.: $28M, Sun: $23M). The third Avatar scored the second-highest global opening for a Motion Pictures Association movie for the year to date (behind Disney’s Zootopia 2), exceeding predictions with $347M worldwide (international: $258M).

Faith-based filmmaking continues to show its appeal — the indie animated family musical David (Angel), produced Slingshot Productions and South Africa’s Sunrise Animation Studios, battled the studio giants to open at No. 2 on the domestica charts with $22M from 3,118 theaters (Fri.: $9.66M, Sat,: $6.7M, Sun.: $5.65M) with a 98% Rotten Tomatoes audience rating and “A” CinemaScore.

The studio confirmed Sunday that David has secured the best three-day theatrical opening in Angel’s history (surpassing Sound of Freedom‘s $19.5M in 2023) and is the highest-grossing faith-based animated theatrical opening of all time, outstripping Angel’s own The King of Kings ($19.4M) and DreamWorks’ The Prince of Egypt. The studio has released two of the top 10 highest-grossing animated domestic theatrical releases of 2025, alongside The King of Kings ($61M).

Angel, which picked up the rights to the IP with 2521 Entertainment, recently announced release dates in 43 international markets through 2026. Hype for the movie was boosted by an accompanying five-part animated TV series.

“Families are searching for values-driven films that honor hope, and our Angel Guild members embraced David from the very beginning,” said Brandon Purdie, Head of Theatrical at Angel. “We greatly value the support of our outstanding exhibitors and look forward to a robust, extended theatrical run as this popular animated musical continues to warm hearts and inspire families this Christmas.”

Coming in behind Lionsgate’s psychological thriller adaptation The Housemaid, starring Sydney Sweeney, with $19M from 3,015 theaters, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (Paramount Animation/Nickelodeon Movies) opened at No. 4, welcoming families and fans to 3,557 theaters for a three-day take of $16M (Fri.: $6M, Sat.: $5.3M, Sun.: $4.7M). The fourth SpongeBob theatrical feature (sixth movie, counting the Netflix spin-offs) sailed through its domestic debut with an 85% Fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an “A-” CinemaScore.

Paramount reports that word of mouth was driven by strong enthusiasm among kids with 94% rating the film positively (including 52% “Excellent”) and 60% saying they would recommend it “right away.” The latest Bikini Bottom adventure was also buoyed by a “SpongeBob SquareWeek” launched Dec. 14 across Paramount platforms, widespread brand partnership activations and major social media momentum for trailers and first-look clips, including the video for the Ice Spice original tune “Big Guy.” The top demographics for Search for SquarePants were Family (53%) / General (47%), with 80% of moviegoers under age 35 (57% under 25).

The studio is expecting extended popularity for the pic through the holiday corridor in North America. Internationally, the film will open in 50 markets starting December 25, including Australia, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom. There are 15 markets that will release later, including Brazil, Italy, and China on January 1, 2026.

Meanwhile Walt Disney Animation Studios’ most recent record-breaker Zootopia 2 rounded out the Top 5 in its fourth week, playing in 3,540 theaters (-295) and getting its paws on $14.5M over three days. The film is nearing another major global box office milestone, closing out the weekend with $282.8M worldwide. Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde have now skittered their way to $1.27 billion worldwide.

With the Zootopia 2 critters and Avatar: Fire and Ash aliens leading the charge, Disney’s 2025 release slate has earned $5.8 billion worldwide; the studio overtook Warner Bros. for the overall top spot a few weeks ago when its titles reached $5B in box office, and Disney is on track to hit $6B by Saturday.