NEW YORK – As a winter storm swept across much of the nation, the film industry experienced its most subdued weekend of the year at cinemas. The Amazon MGM sci-fi thriller “Mercy” toppled “Avatar: Fire and Ash” from its position at the top of the box office, earning $11.2 million in North America, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.

The severe weather forced hundreds of theaters to shut their doors, stretching from Texas to Maine. With over 140 million Americans under winter storm alerts, enthusiasm for moviegoing dwindled significantly.

Nonetheless, this weekend was not expected to be a major draw. “Mercy,” a $60 million production featuring Chris Pratt as a man facing trial before an AI judge in the near future, emerged as the leading new release. However, it debuted amid unfavorable critiques (scoring just 20% on Rotten Tomatoes) and received a lukewarm response from viewers, who graded it a “B-” CinemaScore.

Despite this, “Mercy” managed to usurp James Cameron’s third venture into the world of Pandora, which had held the top spot for a month. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” slipped to second place, garnering $7 million. While the Disney release is losing steam domestically, it continues to captivate international audiences, bringing in $28.1 million overseas during its sixth week.

Although “Avatar: Fire and Ash” won’t reach the monumental box-office success of its predecessors, the 2009 original, which raked in $2.9 billion, and the 2022 sequel, “The Way of Water,” which grossed $2.3 billion, the latest installment has surpassed $1 billion internationally. However, its domestic earnings of $378.5 million fall short of the benchmarks set by the earlier films.

The “Oscar bump” that films once saw following nomination is largely a thing of the past. The lead movies in Thursday’s nominations — “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” — long ago completed their theatrical runs. But a handful of nominees saw strong business.

Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” nominated for eight Oscars including best picture, collected $2 million in its first weekend of wide release. The Shakespeare drama, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, has been in theaters for two months, steadily increasing its theatrical footprint. It’s up to $17.6 million domestically and $42.1 million worldwide.

Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme,” nominated for nine Oscars, earned $3.5 million in its sixth weekend of release. The A24 title, starring Timothée Chalamet, this week cross $100 million globally. It’s made $86.2 million domestically thus far.

But newer releases struggled. “Return to Silent Hill,” the third installment in a horror series kick-started with 2006’s “Silent Hill,” opened with $3.2 million. Though Sony released the 2006 film and Open Road distributed the 2012 follow up, the low-budget “Return to Silent Hill” was put out by Iconic Events.

In its second week of release, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” dropped swiftly. The Sony release, directed by Nia DaCosta, opened last week to a disappointing $13.3 million in sales despite good reviews. But its second weekend was even worse, dropping 71% with $3.6 million.

Other new releases flopped. Roadside Attractions’ “H Is For Hawk,” starring Claire Foy, took in just $150,000 from 472 theaters. Sony’s “Clika,” about a migrant worker with music aspirations, managed only $1.2 million in 522 locations.

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “Mercy,” $11.2 million.

2. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $7 million.

3. “Zootopia 2,” $5.7 million.

4. “The Housemaid,” $4.2 million.

5. “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” $3.6 million.

6. “Marty Supreme,” $3.5 million.

7. “Return to Silent Hill,” $2.7 million.

8. “Hamnet,” $2 million.

9. “Lord of the Rings,” $2 million.

10. “Primate,” $1.7 million.