Avatar: Fire and Ash marks the second-best global opening of 2025, but charts a slow start on domestic grounds

James Cameron’s third Avatar installment, Avatar: Fire and Ash, made a powerful debut at the global box office as the year-end holiday movie season kicked off. Released by 20th Century and Disney, the film earned $345 million worldwide in its opening weekend, marking the second-biggest global opening of any Hollywood release in 2025 and trailing only Disney’s Zootopia 2.

While Fire and Ash was never expected to reach the $441.6 million worldwide launch of 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water, its drop-off was slightly steeper than anticipated.

One notable surprise was its North American performance where it landed at the lower end of expectations with $88 million. 

As with many third installments, the film faces the usual challenges that come with sustaining momentum even within the highly successful Pandora franchise.

However the focus now shifts to the lucrative holiday period where a five- or six-times multiplier remains possible. 

Encouragingly, the mega-budget sequel is drawing strong audience reactions and earned an A CinemaScore in line with the previous two films, despite its lengthy runtime of more than three and a quarter hours.

Disney insiders also point to excellent PostTrak exit scores of 4 out of 5, positioning the film well for continued box office success.

Avatar: Fire and Ash marks strong performance in foreign markets 

Avatar: Fire and Ash is the #1 movie in the world. Get tickets now to experience the can't-miss movie event only in theatres: https://t.co/1ih0J2Ma0D pic.twitter.com/5fqtWUcbOm

— Avatar (@officialavatar) December 21, 2025

The Avatar franchise has long relied on strong overseas performance, and early results for Avatar: Fire and Ash are giving Disney and James Cameron’s Lightstorm plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

IMAX, a format closely associated with Cameron’s filmmaking, contributed $43.6 million to the film’s opening weekend global total. It marked IMAX’s biggest opening of the year and ranking among its five largest openings ever. 

Overall, IMAX and other premium large formats accounted for 56 percent of all tickets sold, reflecting Cameron’s major push for audiences to experience the film in IMAX 3D. 

Internationally, Fire and Ash showed notable resilience across English-speaking territories and Europe, while also posting strong numbers in Asia.

South Korea delivered solid results and China emerged as the standout market, once again embracing a major Hollywood tentpole after the record-breaking success of Zootopia 2. 

China led all international markets for Avatar: Fire and Ash with a $57.6 million debut, outperforming the launch of the previous Avatar installment and underscoring the franchise’s enduring global appeal.

Exploring the plot of Avatar: Fire and Ash

The day has come. Avatar: Fire and Ash is now playing only in theatres. Get tickets now: https://t.co/gSGJpeDyXY pic.twitter.com/lo0v0uqXP0

— Avatar (@officialavatar) December 19, 2025

Avatar: Fire and Ash unfolds almost immediately after the second film, Way of Water.

The story centers on the Sully family as they mourn the devastating loss of Jake and Neytiri’s eldest son Neteyam.

Despite their grief the family is once again forced into an epic journey across Pandora’s land, air and sea to protect one of their own. 

Their struggle takes place amid escalating dangers on the planet including the continued colonization efforts of the human-run RDA, repeated attacks by the resurrected Miles Quaritch and, for the first time in the series, the emergence of a ruthless new threat: a bloodthirsty tribe of Na’vi raiders led by the vicious Varang.

Stay tuned for more updates and announcements from the world of entertainment.