2025 Holiday Blockbuster Pool - Final Report!!!

 The holiday lights are down, the Patriots are back in an AFC Title Game, and Monday was MLK Day, so at long last the 2025 Holiday Blockbuster Pool has come to an end!

The three-way battle for the top was must-watch TV (strange phrase for the metaphor) while the “hanging on for dear life” of the bottom two films was anything but riveting. 

Let’s give a “So Long, Farewell, Until We Stream Again” to the films that didn’t in 2025 before celebrating the true Top 5 of the Holiday Blockbuster Pool.

The “Tubi” Section:

- The anime film Scarlet got scared of being too much in the red and got delayed till February. 

- Ella McCay had more cast members than people who saw it.  

- Is This Thing On? might as well have been named Did This Even Come Out? 

- The Whole Bloody Kill Bill was killed by indifference.

- Sisu 2 might’ve been the only film I saw twice this season, but when even Bradley Cooper can’t make a hit, a mute, old-man, Finnish killing machine isn’t going to cut it either.   

The “Paramount+” Section:

- Sing Song Blue was just blue. When even my wife is over Hugh Jackman, I don’t even know how to make sense of the world anymore. 

- The Running Man ran in circles only to stand still.

- Now You See Me, Now You Don’t should’ve focused more on being seen. 

- Sadly, too many people said my Anaconda don’t want none. 

- Even the search party didn’t come back from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants. 

- David defeated Goliath and got the girl, but didn’t win the pool. 

- To be fair, Marty Supreme becoming the biggest movie about ping-pong since Forest Gump is nothing to sneeze at.  

- Predator: Badlands was bad (as in good… it’s an 80’s thing) enough to hold the #5 spot in the pool until the bitter end… But the end is now. Nice try, guys!

And now, it’s finally here… The Top Five Films of the 2025 Holiday Blockbuster Pool!!!

#5. The Housemaid - $108.9 million

Wow. Well done, you. To be fair, I saw this movie for the same reasons a lot of people did (No, not the Sydney Sweeney sex scenes… that was just a perk). Avatar seemed too long, Marty seemed too serious, and I just wanted a dumb movie to pass the time with… and this fit the bill! Kudos to all for creating a counter-programming flick that did its job and reminding me of good ole 90’s thrillers that I can enjoy and then never think about again. Ladies and gentlemen, The Housemaid! 

#4. Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 - $127.6 million

It’s a FNaF World and we’re all just living in it. There may not be a bigger gap between the Tomatometer and the Popcornmeter scores than the 16% vs 84% rankings, but just let the people be happy. No one’s going to confuse these films with Oppenheimer and no one is trying to. Besides, it’s another hit for Josh Hutcherson: Team Peeta 4 Life! I can buy my own damn flowers, Liam Hemsworth! 

 

#3. Wicked For Good - $342.6 million

A lot of people wondered if Part Two could live up to Wicked Part One and the reality is that it couldn’t. The new songs didn’t click and the padding to bloat the second act didn’t add to anything. Maybe they could’ve trimmed here and there to squeeze these two parts into a single 3 ½ hour movie, yet that single “great” film likely wouldn’t have grossed over the $800 million these two films made combined. Maybe it’s the classic Hollywood story: they made the right business decision to the detriment of the art… and they’d happily do it again :)   

  

#2. Avatar: Fire & Ash - $368.1 million

While I wonder if James Cameron will ever just make a “regular” film again (self-contained, goes from Point A to Point B, “only” costs $200 million instead of $500 to make, etc.), it has to sting Disney that folks are already tuning out the Avatar movies after one comeback movie. Even globally, this movie has made a BILLION less than Avatar 2 by this point. My son read an interview back when The Way of Water came out that Avatar 4 is where the series really goes next level. It might have to to get the masses back to Pandora.       

#1. Zootopia 2 - $394.1 million

No matter how many times I’ve called this film Zoolander 2, I appreciate that everyone around me knows what I’m talking about because everyone knows no one’s ever talked about Zoolander 2. It’s like the Fight Club of sequels. Regardless, let’s celebrate an unnecessary sequel that’s still a good time topping the charts. Much like Inside Out 2, Zootopia 2 wasn’t the movie anyone asked for, but it was the film we needed. If the “blah” and “meh” Wicked and Avatar had won the pool, it takes some of the fun out of it. So, let’s hear it for the 2025 Holiday Blockbuster Pool winner… Sing us out, Gazelle!

‘Avatar’ More Ash Than Fire? - Weeks 6-8

 The final films have descended at the box-office and descended may be the right words. Some movies aren’t as “hot” as they expected to be this winter season. 

Avatar: Fire and Ash had a lackluster $89.1 million debut weekend. Almost $45 million less than Avatar: The Way of Water began. That wasn’t necessarily a red flag, as the Avatar films have traditionally been more of a smaller start and continually strength over the long-haul performance. Still, the smaller the start, the less strength there is to build from.

Its second weekend dropped only 29%, which is great. Avatar 3 is now at $216 million after the long Christmas weekend. Obviously, still behind where Avatar 2 was, but still with an outside chance of catching the earlier November hits if it can keep momentum and, more importantly,  keep charging those premium 3D glasses ticket prices. 

The real winner of December has been Zootopia 2 which has been THE family hit of the holiday season even though it’s already been out since Thanksgiving. Weekends of $16 million and $20 million over the school break have pushed this film to $321 million so far and it could catch Wicked: For Good by this weekend. 

Speaking of Wicked: For Good, it may finally be showing its box-office strength is not as “unlimited” as Elphaba and Glinda. Sitting at $331.6 million so far, it looks like a final of $340 million might be where gravity sets in. 

Outside of the heavy-hitters, it’s hard to make much sense of the other films and where they may land. 

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is at $118 million and doesn’t have many quarters left to play in the arcade. 

Predator: Badlands is the gate-keeper at #5 with $90 million and daring other films to pass it. 

Looking at what’s left, I’m not sure if any film can do that. David’s at $49.5 million. The Housemaid is at $46 million. SpongeBob is at $38 million. Marty Supreme is at $28 million. Anaconda’s at $23 million. Sing Song Blue is at $11 million. Ella McCay may be the biggest bomb of the year as a major studio release with only $3.8 million total… TOTAL!

So, honestly, out of that crew, I have no idea. Marty and David could have more groundswell in the coming weeks. And, to be fair to The Housemaid, it only dropped 20% from its first to second weekend, so maybe some buzz and more time for people to find the film could help it keep afloat longer than expected. 

This is where we are people and it may be where we stay… or everything could change. Gulp.   

The Top Five If Today Was MLK Day:

#1. Wicked: For Good - $331.7 million 

#2. Zootopia 2 - $321.2 million 

#3. Avatar: Fire & Ash - $216.9 million

#4. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 - $119 million

#5. Predator: Badlands - $90.1 million