Chris Pratt’s Critically Panned Sci-Fi Flop Delivers the Worst Box Office Debut of His Career

1 week ago 17

Published Jan 24, 2026, 10:46 AM EST

Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him).

Snowstorms in several parts of the country could be the excuse Amazon MGM needs this weekend, as Mercy gears up to underperform at the box office. The sci-fi mystery, starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson, had been raising red flags for weeks. A January release date is never a good sign, especially for a film featuring major stars. The studio also restricted reviews from being published until the last moment, and didn't give the movie much of a marketing push. Mercy is projected to earn little more than $10 million in its first weekend of release at the domestic box office, which would be a record low for Pratt's career as a leading man. However, Mercy will have the distinction of having broken the five-week winning streak of James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash, which is expected to slide to the number two spot.

Mercy grossed around $5 million on opening day, which includes the $1.1 million that it made in Thursday previews. If it stays on this path, it will gross around $12 million in its domestic debut. This would be a terrible result for the movie, which had a reported $60 million production budget. Only a couple of weeks ago, Sony experienced a similar setback with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which also opened to around $12 million and was produced on a reported budget of approximately $60 million. However, The Bone Temple earned excellent reviews, unlike Mercy, which holds a 20% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The aggregator website's consensus reads, "Constricting its two stars inside an airless presentation of a clunky techno-thriller premise, Mercy is tedious enough to make you cry uncle."

This Is the Worst Box Office Debut of Chris Pratt's Career As a Leading Man

Mercy is directed by Timur Bekmambetov, who worked with Pratt years ago on the action film Wanted. Set in the near future, the movie follows the trial of a man who is accused of murdering his wife, and must prove his innocence to an AI-powered judge. This is a major setback for Pratt, who is coming off an outstanding decade in which he starred in multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbusters, three Jurassic World hits, and the $1.3 billion-grossing The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Pratt's previous worst domestic box office debut as a leading man was the sci-fi film Passengers, which made $15 million in its opening weekend but legged it past the coveted $100 million mark. You can watch Mercy in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.