James Cameron’s third instalment in the Avatar franchise opened with about $345 million in global box office takings through Sunday, broadly in line with pre-release expectations for the Walt Disney-backed epic.
Avatar: Fire and Ash delivered the second-biggest Hollywood opening of 2025, trailing only Disney’s Zootopia 2, which debuted with $556 million in November. The film topped box office rankings in the United States and Canada, generating $88 million domestically, according to Disney estimates.
Set on the lush alien world of Pandora, Fire and Ash continues the saga of the towering blue Na’vi people. Its North American opening was 35% lower than that of Avatar: The Way of Water in 2022, the sequel released 13 years after the original film captivated audiences with groundbreaking visual effects.
Analysts said the softer debut reflected lower pent-up demand compared with the previous sequel. Still, industry watchers described the performance as a solid start to the lucrative holiday movie season, when cinema attendance typically surges around Christmas and New Year.
Theatres are hoping the film will help reignite moviegoing momentum into next year. So far, 2025 ticket sales are about 1.3% higher than in 2024 but remain more than 22% below pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to Comscore.
Cameron’s films are known for strong staying power at the box office, often building revenue over several weeks. Fire and Ash also opened closer to Christmas than The Way of Water, which may have dampened opening-weekend attendance as audiences balanced holiday commitments.
Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington return as the voices of the lead characters, portraying parents fighting to protect their family and home. Cameron has previously noted that the Avatar films require substantial box office returns to justify their high production costs, which Disney has not disclosed.
The original Avatar, released in 2009, remains the highest-grossing film of all time with $2.9 billion in ticket sales, while The Way of Water earned $2.3 billion. Two more sequels are slated for release in 2029 and 2031.
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