It may be a new year but it was a bunch of late 2025 releases that largely anchored the New Year’s box office. While James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash remains the big story around town, taking in another $40 million domestically and crossing the $1 billion mark globally, genre storytelling had reason to celebrate as well. In no small part because director Paul Feig’s The Housemaid is blowing past expectations, having sailed past the $100 million mark as we rolled into 2026.
See also: The 5 Biggest Horror Movies At The Box Office In 2025
Starring Sydney Sweeney (Immaculate) and Amanda Seyfried (You Should Have Left), the erotic thriller based on the best-selling book by Freida McFadden added another $14.8 million in North America over the weekend, representing a miniscule 3% drop from the prior weekend. That sort of thing rarely happens. It was good enough for third place just behind Disney’s juggernaut Zootopia 2 ($19 million), which is now past $1.5 billion worldwide.
Internationally, Feig’s latest added another $27.4 million. It has now earned $75.7 million domestically to go with $57.3 million internationally for a running total of $133 million worldwide. That’s outstanding on a reported $35 million budget. Things certainly looked good after the movie’s $19 million weekend, but it has demonstrated unusually long legs with a lot of gas left in the tank.
The film centers on Millie (Sweeney) whose new job with the wealthy Winchesters pulls her into a sexy, seductive game of secrets and power. The cast also includes Brandon Sklenar (Drop) and Michele Morrone (Subservience).
This is good news for Lionsgate, as the studio has had something of an up-and-down couple of years, with the misses largely outweighing the hits. Misfires like The Strangers: Chapter 2 have been far too common. With any luck, this success can help get the studio off on the right foot as they enter a new year.
Elsewhere in the realm of horror, Anaconda also held strong after its big debut with a $10 million second weekend, a drop of just 31%. Proving to be a solid international draw as well, the meta reboot is approaching $90 million worldwide already on a $45 million budget. Meanwhile, Daisy Ridley’s zombie movie We Bury the Dead opened just outside of the top ten with $2.5 million. Not bad for a Vertical Entertainment release with very minimal marketing. Whether it has any legs, especially with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple just around the corner, remains to be seen.
The Housemaid is in theaters now. For more, get the lowdown on some of the biggest horror movies coming our way in 2016.
