The new Avatar installment, Avatar: Fire and Ash, opened with a worldwide haul of $345 million, according to studio estimates released Sunday. It stands as the second-best global debut of 2025 and could propel James Cameron toward additional blockbuster milestones.
Opening Performance
*Avatar: Fire and Ash launched with $88 million domestically and $257 million internationally. The only film to open larger in 2025 was Zootopia 2*, which earned $497.2 million over three days. The movie is positioned to benefit from the lucrative holiday movie-going corridor that follows the opening weekend.
Domestic and International Sales
The film’s domestic earnings fell 35% from the previous installment, Avatar: The Way of Water, which debuted in 2022 with $435 million worldwide and $134 million in North America. Internationally, Fire and Ash has performed strongly, particularly in China where it earned $57.6 million on its opening weekend-surpassing the opening figures of both prior Avatar films.
Critical Reception
Reviews for Fire and Ash are more mixed than earlier entries, with a 68% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest score in the series. Despite the lukewarm critical response, audiences have responded positively, giving the film an “A” CinemaScore.
Financial Stakes
The film’s production budget is at least $400 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made. In interviews, Cameron has repeatedly said that Fire and Ash must perform well if future Avatar films-four and five, which are already written but not greenlit-are to come to fruition.
Quote from Industry Analyst
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, remarked, “James Cameron is not known for his low budget movies. 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.”
Premium Formats and 3D
Premium format showings accounted for 66% of the film’s opening-weekend revenue, and 56% of moviegoers chose to watch it in 3D. These numbers underscore the continued importance of high-end viewing experiences for the Avatar franchise.
Overseas Performance
Avatar films have historically been especially popular overseas. Fire and Ash‘s strongest market remains China, where its opening-weekend earnings of $57.6 million exceeded the opening totals of both previous Avatar movies.
Competition on Opening Weekend
The film did not enjoy a quiet weekend. Three other new wide releases-Lionsgate’s The Housemaid, Angel Studios’ David, and Paramount’s The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants-opened alongside Avatar. In the race for second place, David topped the chart, collecting $22 million from 3,118 theaters and marking the best opening weekend for Angel Studios.
*The Housemaid*, a Paul Feig psychological thriller starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, opened with $19 million across 3,015 theaters. The $35 million-budget film is positioned as a strong R-rated option for holiday audiences.
*The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants earned $16 million from 3,557 theaters. The G-rated film is the first SpongeBob theatrical release since 2015’s Sponge Out of Water*.
Upcoming Releases and Per-Theater Averages
All new films will aim to keep ticket sales rolling into the Christmas break. Starting December 25, they will face fresh wide releases such as A24’s Marty Supreme starring Timothée Chalamet, Focus Features’ Song Sung Blue with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, and Sony’s Anaconda featuring Jack Black and Paul Rudd.
*Marty Supreme* opened in six theaters over the weekend, grossing $875,000-$145,000 per theater. The figure earned the film the best per-theater average of the year, the best since 2016, and a new high mark for A24. Directed by Josh Safdie, the film follows Chalamet as an aspiring table tennis player in 1950s New York and is the most expensive project ever produced by the studio.
Domestic Box Office Top 10
The final domestic figures released Monday placed Avatar: Fire and Ash at the top with $88 million. The second spot went to David ($22 million), followed by The Housemaid ($19 million), The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants ($16 million), Zootopia 2 ($14.5 million), Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 ($7.3 million), Wicked: For Good ($4.3 million), Dhurandhar ($2.5 million), Marty Supreme ($875,000), and Hamnet ($850,000).
Side Note: Zoe Saldaña’s Involvement
Zoe Saldaña has spoken about being randomly called to shoot scenes for Avatar 3 and about her role in her husband Marco Perego’s film The Absence of Eden.
Key Takeaways
- Avatar: Fire and Ash opened to $345 million worldwide, the second-best debut of 2025.
- The film’s domestic earnings fell 35% from The Way of Water, but it remains one of the most expensive movies ever made.
- Premium formats and 3D accounted for a majority of opening-weekend revenue, with 56% of viewers choosing 3D.
*Avatar: Fire and Ash* continues the franchise’s tradition of strong legs and word-of-mouth momentum, while navigating a crowded holiday release window and setting the stage for potential future installments.
