‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Gets Off To a Hot Theatrical Start

We all knew Avatar: Fire and Ash was hitting just before Christmas as the big movie of the holiday season, so now we’re just waiting to see how much it makes.

Already, it’s off to a solid start, making $345 million worldwide in its opening weekend. Per the Hollywood Reporter, it’s the second-best Hollywood open of 2025 behind Zootopia 2, even as its $88 million domestic take is on the low end of projections, which pegged between $85 million and $95 million. Even so, it’s doing gangbusters internationally, and the last two movies had long tails during their theatrical runs. The first Avatar and The Way of Water were the top movies in North America for seven weeks each, continually making money, so there’s a good chance that continues for a third time.

One thing lacking from Fire and Ash that benefitted Way of Water is time: there was a 13-year gap between the first two Avatar movies, while this one just has three. It’s even more of a known entity now than pre-2022, made clear by both the From the Ashes expansion for Ubisoft’s 2023 game Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora meant to coincide with the film’s release and Miley Cyrus’ recent single. As such, there might be a sense of newness missing for Fire and Ash, even as it’s racking up solid reviews and very good impressions from audiences.

Director James Cameron has acknowledged this, saying that if he doesn’t end up making those fourth and fifth movies, he’s already got a backup plan. And it probably also helps that reactions have noted how much Ash feels like a closer in its own right, so it’s not like the franchise will abruptly die—but it may have to work a little harder to reach its own box office heights.

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