The domestic weekend box office results for January 24-26 are in, bringing some good and bad news for both new releases and hits from November and December that are still enjoying long theatrical runs. Last weekend, Mufasa surprisingly beat Wolf Man and One of Them Days for the top spot at the box office, despite the former having been in theaters for some time now and the latter two being new releases with good projections. However, despite Mufasa‘s mixed reviews, the broad appeal of the Lion King story seems to still be bringing families to movie theaters.

As far as new releases are concerned, Mark Wahlberg’s Flight Risk could prove to fly high and fall fast like other similar recent тιтles, while Lucy Liu’s Presence may experience the opposite. Notably, this weekend’s box office is influenced by the announcement of the 2025 Oscar nominations, as now that the тιтles are confirmed, Best Picture nominees are seeing a new surge in ticket sales as the race for this year’s top awards truly begins. Yet the January 24-26 box office demonstrates that the beloved flicks of 2024 and 2025 are still getting their due.

Flight Risk Opened At #1 After Exceeding Box Office Expectations

Mark Wahlberg’s Action Thriller Claims The Top Spot

Despite its resounding 25% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, Flight Risk reached the top spot on the domestic box office charts in its opening weekend. Following a hitman who infiltrates a small flight posing as a pilot, Flight Risk is directed by Mel Gibson and stars Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, and Topher Grace. As of Friday morning, Variety projected that the new thriller would achieve more than $11 million in its first weekend, but it did better by hitting $12 million, also within the range predicted by Boxoffice Pro and Box Office Theory.

However, Wahlberg’s highest-grossing movies have historically done much better with their openings, and Flight Risk might only be a winner this weekend. Meanwhile, Lionsgate is celebrating the small win when this is the studio’s second 2025 release to be named #1 at the box office upon its opening weekend, following Den of Thieves 2: Pantera‘s debut just two weeks ago. However, while Presence comes in at #6 with below $3.5 million, Den of Thieves 2‘s 54.5% drop in profits and comparisons to Walhberg’s biggest commercial hits might not bode well for Flight Risk‘s future.

Mufasa & One Of Them Days Had Great Holds This Weekend

The Lion King Still Reigns While Palmer Does Well By Comedy

Meanwhile, Mufasa: The Lion King saw a 27.8% drop in its gross from last weekend, while One of Them Days fell 32.2%. However, these decreases only place the former in the #2 spot for the weekend and the latter at #3. Mufasa is still sitting at 58% on Rotten Tomatoes and is one of the major movies to get no Oscar nominations in 2025. However, its 89% audience score speaks to its strengths and its family-friendly nature still seems to be making money with parents looking for a weekend activity, even after last week’s holiday weekend.

There were hopes that One of Them Days might be the first straightforward comedy to be #1 at the box office for its opening weekend since 2022’s Jackᴀss Forever, but the Keke Palmer-led hit is making the genre proud all the same. Holding a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and an A- on CinemaScore, One of Them Days is standing strong in the top three and has the potential to stay there if it can maintain its momentum in the coming weeks. Perhaps One of Them Days can still have a weekend in the top spot as Mufasa goes to streaming.

Wolf Man & Den Of Thieves 2 Continue To Drop Quickly At The Box Office

Wolf Man Does Not Seem To Be A New Horror Classic

Any hopes for Wolf Man to be a box office winner are quickly dissipating as it drops 68.8%, bringing it down from the third highest-grossing movie of the weekend to the seventh. Now at $27.6 million worldwide, Wolf Man has earned back its $25 million budget but has likely not quite broken even yet with marketing costs factored in. Furthermore, Den of Thieves 2 may be seeing its last weekend in the top 10, having dropped to #9 since its strong opening weekend, making another $3 million.

Other Takeaways From The January 24-26 Weekend Box Office

The Oscars Begin To Have Their Say At The Box Office

While Phoebe Dynevor’s thriller Inheritance quietly landed at #26, Best Picture nominees A Complete Unknown and The Brutalist also had relatively good weekends. A Complete Unknown made 17.3% less than last weekend but is holding its position in the top 10 a month after its release, now bolstered by its nominations. On the other hand, The Brutalist surged with a 45.5% increase, bringing it back into the top 10, generally impressive considering that it is a three-and-a-half-hour movie. Even after The Brutalist‘s AI controversy, it seems to be the movie reaping the most benefit from the Oscar nominations being announced.

Wicked dropped below the top 10, signaling that it may be finally running out of steam, while other Oscars contenders are getting a boost. Nickel Boys saw a small uptake, while I’m Still Here, arguably the most surprising Best Picture nomination of 2025, beat out The Brutalist in one major metric. While The Brutalist is expanding into more theaters, the January 24-26 weekend saw I’m Still Here take away its spot for the highest per-theater average, making an average of $14,125 per theater (via Collider).

However, while prestige films are enjoying their time of year, the power of a good family film is still a proven factor at the box office. Sonic the Hedgehog 3, more than a month after its premiere, held onto its #4 position from last week. Meanwhile, Moana 2 slips up from sixth to fifth place. Notably, both movies made less than they did last weekend, even if their ranking stayed the same or improved. However, both will probably soon fall off the list with digital and streaming releases coming up.

What The January 24-26 Weekend Box Office Means For The Next Week

Flight Risk Could Go Either Way As Psychological Thrillers Take Over

Given how things played out for Den of Thieves 2, it is very possible that Flight Risk will begin to drop next weekend as its reviews catch up with it. The Brutalist and I’m Still Here may continue to do well, but the favor may also shift to other Oscar nominees, as Anora, Sing Sing, September 5, and Nickel Boys are all still in theaters. Moviegoers who opted for Flight Risk might also pay more attention to Presence as word of mouth about its superior reviews spreads.

Next weekend will see the Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid-led psychological thriller Companion hit theaters, as well as DreamWorks Dog Man. The former has great early reviews and while the latter might garner some good favor with the fans of the book series it is based on. Flight Risk certainly got the perfect weekend for its release, but it is far behind even similarly reviewed action thrillers, lacking known IP to help it along. Overall, the box office is primed to see a shift away from typical action movies next week.

Source: Box Office Mojo, Variety Boxoffice Pro, Box Office Theory, Collider