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“Avatar: Fire and Ash” brought in $345 million worldwide, according to studio estimates Sunday, marking the second-best global debut of the year and potentially James Cameron On its way to setting even more blockbuster records.
Sixteen years of the “Avatar” saga, pandora Money is still abundant at the box-office. “Fire and Ash,” the third film in Cameron’s science-fiction franchise, opened with $88 million domestically and $257 million internationally. The only film to have a bigger opening in 2025 was “Zootopia 2” ($497.2 million in three days). In the coming weeks, “Fire and Ash” will benefit significantly from the highly attractive holiday moviegoing corridor.
But this “Avatar” film, which came three years after “Avatar: The Way of Water”, was a little less popular. The film launched in 2022 with a massive gross of $435 million globally and $134 million in North America. Domestically, “Fire and Ash” declined by a massive 35% from the previous installment. Reviews of “Fire and Ash” were even more mixed, receiving a series-low 68% “Fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Yet those controversies are the result of “the high standards ofAvatarThe first two films ranked as two of the three greatest box-office films of all time. To reach those heights, the ,Avatar, movies have depended more on legs than big openings.
“Avatar” (2009), debuted with $77 million domestically, but remained at the top spot for seven weeks. It ultimately grossed $2.92 billion worldwide. “The Way of Water” also remained strong, ultimately reaching $2.3 billion globally.
David A., a film consultant who publishes a newspaper on box office numbers. “Vacation is not what the ‘Avatar’ movies are about,” Gross said. “What they did after they started made them the #2 and #3 biggest movies of all time.”
If “Fire and Ash” should follow in those footsteps, “Avatar” would become the only film franchise with three $2 billion installments. Working in its favor so far: Strong verbal rhetoric. Audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore.
In interviews, Cameron has repeatedly said that “Fire and Ash” needs to do well in order to make the next “Avatar” films. (Four and five have already been written but not greenlit.) These are exceptionally expensive films to make. With a production budget of at least $400 million, “Fire and Ash” is one of the most expensive films ever made.
“Fire and Ash” was particularly boosted by premium format showings, reaching 66% in its opening weekend. A small majority (56%) of moviegoers chose to watch it in 3D.
The “Avatar” films have always been particularly popular overseas. “Fire and Ash” was the strongest ChinaWhere its opening weekend of $57.6 million left the previous two films behind.
The weekend of “Fire and Ash” wasn’t entirely its own. A trio of other new wide releases hit theaters in hopes of offering some counterprogramming: Lionsgate’s “The Housemaid,” Angel Studios’ “David” and Paramount Pictures’ “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants.”
“David” topped the race for second place. The animated tale of David and Goliath earned $22 million from 3,118 theaters, marking the best opening weekend for Christian-oriented studio Angel Studios, which emerged with 2023’s surprise hit “Sound of Freedom.”
Paul Feig’s twisty psychological thriller “The Housemaid,” starring Sidney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, was released in 3,015 theaters, grossing $19 million. The Lionsgate release, which cost approximately $35 million to make, is poised to become one of the top R-rated choices in theaters during the holidays. Based on the best-selling novel by Frieda McFadden, it stars Sweeney as a woman with a troubled past who becomes a live-in maid for a wealthy family.
Trailing the pack was “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants,” which collected $16 million from 3,557 theaters. The G-rated film, based on the Nickelodeon TV series, is the first “SpongeBob” theatrical film since 2015’s “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.”
All of this weekend’s new movies are expected to continue selling tickets during the upcoming Christmas holiday. Starting Dec. 25, he’ll have to contend with some new wide releases, including A24’s “Marty Supreme” with Timothée Chalamet; Focus Features’ “Song Sung Blue” with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson; and Sony’s “Anaconda” with Jack Black and Paul Rudd.
Before expanding over Christmas, “Marty Supreme” played in six theaters over the weekend and grossed $875,000 or $145,000 per theater. This was not only good enough for the best per-theater average of the year, but the best since 2016 and a new high mark for A24. The film is directed by Josh Safdie and stars Chalamet as an aspiring table tennis player in the 1950s new yorkThe most expensive ever for the A24.