Rebecca Ferguson’s 101-Minute Sci-Fi Movie Flops Harder Than Her Stephen King Dud

1 week ago 12

Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat offering a flower in Doctor Sleep

Published Jan 25, 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 many parts of America this weekend affected theatrical business, which was down by nearly 10% compared to the same time last year. The number one movie on the domestic box office charts was the sci-fi mystery Mercy, which sent James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash to the number two spot for the first time in its run. Starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson, Mercy follows a man's efforts to exonerate himself after being accused of his wife's murder. Filmed in a semi-screenlife format, Mercy features Pratt as the accused and Ferguson as the AI-powered judge in charge of his fate. The movie opened to poor reviews and tanked in its opening weekend at the box office, despite securing the number one spot.

In fact, the film's $11 million opening weekend haul at the domestic box office is lower than the $14 million with which Ferguson's 2019 bomb, Doctor Sleep, opened its run with. Serving both as an adaptation of Stephen King's book of the same name and a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, Doctor Sleep was envisioned as a surefire hit. The film was released in the wake of It, the other 2019 King adaptation, which broke records to gross over $700 million worldwide. However, Doctor Sleep ended its run with around $30 million domestically and $70 million worldwide, against a reported budget of $55 million. Directed by Mike Flanagan, the movie earned positive reviews — it currently holds a 78% score on Rotten Tomatoes — and has cultivated a strong fan base in the years since its release.

Both Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson Have Major Projects Lined Up

However, audiences don't seem to be responding to Mercy, which earned a rough B- from opening day audiences, according to CinemaScore. The film's critics' score of 20% on Rotten Tomatoes is equally disheartening; the aggregator'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." Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, who has devoted himself to the screenlife format, the movie was produced on a reported budget of $60 million. Both Ferguson and Pratt would want to move on from this disappointment immediately; Pratt has The Super Mario Galaxy Movie to look forward to, while Ferguson will star in Dune: Part Three and the third season of Silo later this year. You can watch Mercy in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.