Mercy Unseats Avatar: Fire and Ash Amid Winter Storm
Amazon MGM's 'Mercy' opened to $11.2 million as a winter storm closed about 250 theaters and depressed ticket sales.
ABC News'Mercy' unseats 'Avatar: Fire & Ash' atop box office on snow-blanketed weekend
Chicago Tribune‘Mercy’ unseats ‘Avatar: Fire & Ash’ atop the box office on snow-blanketed weekend in theaters
Associated Press'Mercy' unseats 'Avatar: Fire & Ash' atop the box office on snow-blanketed weekend in theaters
Overview
Amazon MGM's 'Mercy' opened to $11.2 million and unseated 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' for the weekend's No. 1 spot, according to studio estimates Sunday.
A winter storm closed about 250 theaters from Texas to Maine and placed more than 140 million Americans under warnings, depressing ticket sales, according to data firm Comscore.
Rotten Tomatoes rated 'Mercy' 20% and audiences gave it a B- CinemaScore, according to Rotten Tomatoes and CinemaScore metrics.
Comscore estimates show 'Hamnet' earned $2 million and 'Marty Supreme' $3.5 million this weekend, while 'Return to Silent Hill' opened to $2.7 million.
Comscore said final domestic figures will be released Monday, and studios will monitor award-nominated titles for potential box-office bumps, industry analysts said.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the weekend as a tale of underperformance, using loaded terms ("withering reviews," "flopped," "disappointing") and emphasizing negative metrics (Rotten Tomatoes, CinemaScore, Comscore). They prioritize box-office declines and sharp judgments while largely omitting counterpoints like audience praise or distributor context, shaping a narrative of industry slump.