Christmas Day has brought a fresh wave of new releases to North American theatres, and this year’s holiday box office is shaping up to be a fascinating mix of prestige cinema, campy reboots, and unstoppable blockbusters. Leading the new arrivals are A24’s Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet, and Sony’s Anaconda reboot, headlined by Jack Black and Paul Rudd.
Both films rolled out nationwide on Christmas after preview shows on Christmas Eve, stepping straight into one of the busiest moviegoing windows of the year.
Marty Supreme: Prestige Buzz Meets Big Expectations
Marty Supreme has been making noise even before its wide release. The Josh Safdie–directed period film stunned the industry last weekend by delivering a record-breaking per-location average of $145,913 across just six screens in New York and Los Angeles — the highest in A24’s history and the strongest limited opening for any film since La La Land in 2016.
Set in 1950s New York, the film follows Chalamet’s cocky, ambitious table tennis prodigy who’s willing to bend every rule to chase global glory. With a reported budget in the $60–70 million range, it also holds the distinction of being A24’s most expensive production to date.
Critics have responded enthusiastically, with Marty Supreme sitting at an impressive 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Early previews brought in an estimated $2.01 million, putting it just behind Anaconda on Christmas Eve.
The big question now is whether the film can expand beyond A24’s traditional specialty audience and connect with mainstream moviegoers.
Anaconda: Bigger Screens, Bigger Numbers, Rougher Reviews
Sony’s Anaconda reboot is the more commercial of the two Christmas newcomers — and that’s reflected in its box office outlook. The Jack Black–Paul Rudd action-comedy pulled in around $2.1 million in previews, edging out Marty Supreme and positioning itself for a projected four-day holiday haul north of $20 million.
Directed by Tom Gormican, the film takes a meta approach to the franchise, following a film crew attempting to make the ultimate Anaconda movie in the Amazon. Thandiwe Newton and Steve Zahn round out the ensemble.
Critically, however, the response has been far less kind. The film currently sits at a 44% Rotten Tomatoes score, with reviewers suggesting the concept promises more fun than the final product delivers.
Timothée Chalamet’s Marketing Blitz Pays Off
One undeniable win for Marty Supreme has been its marketing. Chalamet went all-in, from staging a tongue-in-cheek Zoom call pitching outrageous promo ideas to A24 executives, to actually making some of those ideas real — including a bright orange blimp flying over Los Angeles and lighting up the Empire State Building ahead of the New York premiere.
The most headline-grabbing moment came just days before release, when Chalamet became the first person to stand atop Las Vegas’ Sphere, cementing the film’s cultural moment before audiences even bought tickets.
Avatar 3 Still Rules the Holiday Box Office
While the newcomers fight for attention, Avatar 3 remains the undisputed champion of the season. James Cameron’s epic is crossing the $500 million worldwide mark on Christmas Day, having already dominated Wednesday’s domestic chart.
So far, the film has earned:
- $129.2 million in North America
- $353.6 million overseas, including a massive $71 million from China
- $483.3 million worldwide through Wednesday alone
Meanwhile, Disney Animation’s Zootopia 2 continues its strong post-Thanksgiving run, helping Disney cross $6 billion in global ticket sales for the first time since before the pandemic.
A Dream Holiday Window for Theatres
With Christmas landing on a Thursday, theatre owners are enjoying a near-perfect setup. The long holiday weekend, combined with school and college breaks, traditionally makes the final two weeks of December the most lucrative stretch of the year — and 2025 is proving no exception.
Between prestige titles, crowd-pleasing reboots, family animation, and blockbuster spectacles, the holiday box office has something for everyone.
