James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash amassed US$345 million at the global box office this weekend, a far cry from the success of its predecessors.
The film grossed US$88 million in the American market and US$257 million internationally.
This marks the second-largest debut for a 2025 film behind another Disney juggernaut, Zootopia 2, which earned US$500 million on debut.
However, the film did not gross as much as the previous two instalments of the Avatar franchise.
Avatar: The Way of the Water grossed US$435 million globally in 2022 following multiple release date delays.
The first two trips to Pandora combined were smash hits, grossing more than US$2 billion at the global box office.
The third film cost Disney a massive US$350 million to produce and US$150 million to promote, meaning it would need to earn a lot during its cinema run to make a profit.
The first two films also stand as the two highest-grossing films in history, amassing US$2.9 billion and US$2.3 billion respectively, despite not having shattering opening weekends.
International audiences are also said to be key to the franchise's success, with the first film earning US$2.1 billion from overseas markets.
“The first two movies earned over 70% of their box office overseas,” David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, told Variety.
“So far the foreign openings are extremely strong again.”
