Avatar and Zootopia 2 Dominate the Box Office, While David Quietly Holds Its Ground

The box office right now tells two very different stories at the same time: spectacle still rules the mountain top, while something smaller and quieter has managed to plant a flag further down the list without collapsing under the weight of the giants above it.

At the very top sit Avatar: Fire and Ash and Zootopia 2, two films built for scale, momentum, and international pull. Both are doing exactly what they were designed to do, and doing it well.

James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash continues to prove that the franchise operates in its own economic ecosystem. The film has crossed the billion-dollar mark worldwide, once again leaning heavily on overseas markets while maintaining a strong domestic presence. This is not novelty anymore; it is pattern. Cameron has now overseen multiple consecutive billion-dollar releases, and at this point the surprise would be if an Avatar film did not perform at this level.

Zootopia 2 sits comfortably alongside it, particularly buoyed by family turnout and exceptional international performance. Animated films that appeal across age groups tend to have long legs, and Zootopia 2 has shown exactly that. Its global totals have pushed well past the billion-dollar line, with especially strong results in Asian markets, reaffirming that animation remains one of the most reliable engines in theatrical exhibition when the material connects.

Those two films occupy the top of the mountain, but the more interesting story this week might be found lower down the list.

Sitting at number seven is David, an animated biblical feature that entered the conversation without the marketing blitz, distribution muscle, or cultural saturation of the films above it. Despite that, it has managed to hold position in a competitive box office environment that usually crushes smaller releases.

The symbolism has not gone unnoticed: seventh place, a number long associated with completeness and significance in Scripture, paired with an audience response that has been overwhelmingly positive. The film currently holds a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, a figure that stands out sharply against many higher-grossing titles.

That reception matters.

Audience scores do not guarantee longevity, but they do signal something important: people who are seeing the film are responding to it strongly. In a marketplace where attention is fragmented and choice is endless, that kind of word-of-mouth can be more valuable than raw opening numbers.

What makes David’s position notable is not just where it ranks, but how it got there. The film has not relied on controversy, shock value, or trend-chasing. Instead, it has leaned into straightforward storytelling, familiar themes, and a presentation that clearly knows who it is for. In an era where many faith-adjacent projects struggle to find theatrical footing, David’s performance suggests there is still room for this kind of film when execution is taken seriously.

Meanwhile, the larger picture remains unchanged: spectacle still sells. Big worlds, known brands, and global appeal continue to dominate the upper tiers of the box office. Avatar and Zootopia are not anomalies; they are confirmations of where the industry currently places its bets.

But the presence of David in the top ten complicates that narrative just enough to matter.

It serves as a reminder that box office success is not a single lane road. There are different ways to arrive, different audiences to reach, and different measures of impact. A film does not have to sit at number one to be significant; sometimes holding steady, earning trust, and letting the audience speak does more work than any marketing campaign ever could.

As the winter box office continues to sort itself out, the leaders look exactly as expected. The surprise, quietly and without fanfare, is the film that refuses to be drowned out by the noise above it.