‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ opens with $88M in North America, $345M worldwide

LOS ANGELES – “Avatar: Fire and Ash” opened with $88 million this weekend to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

The third film in director James Cameron’s science fiction series, which uses cutting-edge motion-capture technology to tell the story of the fictional Na’vi tribe, has a long way to go to match the historic box-office performance of its predecessors.

The original “Avatar,” released in 2009, remains the highest grossing film of all time with over $2.9 billion in worldwide box office receipts. The first sequel, 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” is third all-time with over $2.3 billion.

‘David’

Sponsored

is No. 2

Second place went to “David,” Angel Studios’ animated faith-based telling of the Old Testament story, which opened with $22 million, Comscore reported.

“The Housemaid,” a horror thriller starring Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney, opened with $19 million.
“SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants” opened with $16 million, followed by “Zootopia 2,” which made another $14.5 million Friday through Sunday in its fourth weekend in theaters.

Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” ($7.2 million), “Wicked: For Good” ($4.3 million), “Dhurandhar” ($2.47 million), “Marty Supreme” ($875,000) and “Hamnet” ($850,000).

Second-best global debut of the year

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” opened with $345 million in worldwide sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, notching the second-best global debut of the year and potentially putting James Cameron on course to set yet more blockbuster records.

Sixteen years into the “Avatar” saga, Pandora is still abundant in box-office riches. “Fire and Ash” is the third film in Cameron’s science-fiction franchise, launched with $88 million domestically and $257 million internationally. The only film to open bigger in 2025 was “Zootopia 2” ($497.2 million over three days).

In the coming weeks, “Fire and Ash” will have the significant benefit of the highly lucrative holiday moviegoing corridor.

But there was a tad less fanfare to this “Avatar” film, coming three years after “Avatar: The Way of Water.” That film launched in 2022 with a massive $435 million globally and $134 million in North America.

Mixed reviews

Domestically, “Fire and Ash” fell a hefty 35% from the previous installment. Reviews for “Fire and Ash” were also more mixed, scoring a series-low 68% “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Yet those quibbles are only a product of the lofty standards of “Avatar.” The first two films rank as two of the three biggest box-office films of all time. To reach those heights, the “Avatar” films have depended on legs more than huge openings.

For “Fire and Ash” to follow in those footsteps, it will need robust ticket sales to continue for weeks. Working in its favor so far: strong word-of-mouth. Audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore.

In interviews, Cameron has repeatedly said “Fire and Ash” needs to perform well for there to be subsequent “Avatar” films. (Four and five are already written but not greenlit.) These are exceptionally expensive movies to make.

With a production budget of at least $400 million, “Fire and Ash” is one of the costliest movies ever made.
“James Cameron is not known for his low budget movies,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore.

“You can’t exactly create the world of Pandora on the cheap. If you’re going to have a 3D movie, an epic film that’s three hours and 17 minutes, it’s a huge buy-in of money, time, resources, and then you have to hope the audience wants to once again go along on that ride.”

The “Avatar” films have always been especially popular overseas. “Fire and Ash” was strongest in China, where its $57.6 million opening weekend surpassed the two previous movies. (With CNS and AP reports)

The post ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ opens with $88M in North America, $345M worldwide appeared first on USNewsRank.