Chris Pratt’s Mercy Tops the Box Office, Ending Avatar: Fire and Ash’s Run

The new sci-fi thriller Mercy, starring Chris Pratt, took first place at the U.S. box office this weekend with about $11.2 million in ticket sales. That was enough to end the five-week run of Avatar: Fire and Ash at number one.

Even though it wasn’t a huge opening, Mercy did better than expected — especially because a big winter storm kept many people home instead of going to theaters.

About Mercy

• Mercy is a science-fiction thriller released by Amazon MGM Studios on January 23, 2026.
• Chris Pratt plays Detective Chris Raven, a police officer accused of killing his wife in 2029. In this future world, suspects are judged by an AI system and given only 90 minutes to prove their innocence.
• The film also stars Rebecca Ferguson as the AI judge.

Critics weren’t very kind — the movie got mostly negative reviews — but audiences have been more positive, giving it an okay rating.

Box Office Context

Normally, a movie that takes first place makes much more than $11 million in its opening weekend. But this part of the year — late January — is usually quieter for theaters, and this weekend was hurt by bad winter weather from Texas to Maine. Tell-tale blizzards and heavy snow kept many people from going to cinemas.

Overall, total movie ticket sales were about $60 million — roughly 9 % lower than the same weekend last year.

The End of a Long Run for Avatar

Before this week, Avatar: Fire and Ash — the third film in the Avatar series — had held the number one box office spot for five weekends in a row. It’s been a major hit worldwide, with more than $1 billion in global box office earnings.

But even massive films like Avatar can be dethroned when a new release opens — especially during a slow weekend with bad weather.

What This Means

• Mercy’s performance shows that smaller films can still reach number one, especially in early 2026 when fewer big films are opening.
• The winter storms likely cut into ticket-buying, meaning Mercy may not reach high totals even though it reached the top spot.
• Avatar: Fire and Ash still remains a box office success overall, even though it lost the weekly number-one position.

Short Summary

Bottom Line:

The new Chris Pratt sci-fi movie Mercy earned enough at the box office this weekend — despite heavy snow and a slow cinema season — to take the top spot from Avatar: Fire and Ash, which had led for five weeks. It shows that even a modest opening can reach #1 in the right conditions. 

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