Avatar: Fire and Ash has earned $345 million in its opening weekend.
The third instalment in director James Cameron’s sci-fi series pulled in $88 million in the U.S. and $257 million internationally, making Avatar: Fire and Ash the second highest-grossing global opening of 2025 – trailing behind Zootopia 2.
Fire and Ash grossed approximately $57.6 million in China in its opening weekend, making the blockbuster the biggest release of the franchise thus far in the country.
Elsewhere in Asia and the Pacific, Fire and Ash amassed $60.1 million and took the number one spot, though Zootopia 2 managed to maintain its lead in Japan.
Meanwhile, Fire and Ash pulled in $109.4 million in Europe, and took the number one spot in all markets.
While the domestic and international releases are within the pre-weekend projections, Fire and Ash has fallen behind its 2022 predecessor Avatar: The Way of Water, which grossed $441.6 million in its opening weekend.
Avatar: Fire and Ash follows Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their family as they face a fierce new threat from the fire‑wielding ‘Ash People’ tribe led by Varang (Oona Chaplin), reigniting conflict on a turbulent Pandora.
As grief and old enemies resurface, alliances with the Metkayina clan will test their strength, faith, and survival.
Avatar: Fire and Ash also features Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, Stephen Lang as Miles Quaritch and Kate Winslet as Ronal.
While Fire and Ash has had an impressive opening, the Avatar franchise’s fate is relying on a strong and sustained box office performance, as Cameron has insisted he will only continue the series with his planned fourth and fifth movies if there is a clear audience appetite for it.
Speaking on The Town with Matt Belloni podcast, he said: “Sequelitis. People tend to dismiss sequels. Unless it’s the third Lord of the Rings film and you want to see what happens to everybody, which in my mind this is.
“This is the culmination of a story arc, but that may not be how the public sees it.”
The Terminator director added Fire and Ash would be a fitting conclusion to the Avatar franchise if it needs to be.
He said: “I’ve been in Avatar land for 20 years, actually 30 years because I wrote it in ’95, but I wasn’t working continuously on it for those first 10 years.”
While Cameron is open to letting someone else direct the fourth and fifth Avatar movies, the Titanic filmmaker insisted he would have to be closely involved in the projects if they end up being made.
He explained: “Look, I have choices there. There are levels in which I immerse. I could produce. I don’t think there’d ever be another Avatar movie that I didn’t produce closely.
“But in terms of it taking over my life? That’s a threshold issue for me.”
