“Avatar: Fire and Ash” ignited with $88 million in its domestic box office debut. It’s a decent start, albeit a significant decline from the opening weekend of 2022’s sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” with $134 million. However, a larger question looms about the financial fate of the big-budget blockbuster: How will James Cameron’s third trip to Pandora hold over the holiday season?
That’s important because “Avatar” films are known not for fiery opening weekends, but rather for their unparalleled box office staying power. The original 2009 epic “Avatar” debuted to $77 million domestically and remained in first place for seven consecutive weekends, eventually climbing to $760 million in North America and $2.92 billion worldwide. Not to be outdone, the sequel also managed to hold onto the No. 1 spot for seven weekends and ended up earning $688 million domestically and $2.3 billion globally.
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” debuted in line with projections at the international box office with $257 million, bringing its global tally to $345 million. That’s one of the biggest worldwide debuts of the year while also registering dramatically behind the second film’s $435 million global debut.
Heading into the weekend, Disney and 20th Century’s “Avatar 3” was projected to earn $90 million to $105 million in its domestic debut. Based on initial ticket sales, the otherworldly adventure appears to be experiencing diminishing returns. It’s unclear, however, what exactly diminishing returns will look like for the follow-up to two of the highest-grossing films in history. “Avatar” adventures carry enormous budgets, costing at least $350 million to produce and millions more to market. Cameron once said that “The Way of Water” needed to become one of the top-grossing releases of all time to break even. (It did.) The newest “Avatar” doesn’t necessarily need to surpass the $2 billion mark to be commercially successful, but it’s safe to assume that “Fire and Ash” needs to become a box office behemoth to justify its massive price tag.
Premium screens, including Imax and 3D, accounted for a significant 66% of ticket sales. Meanwhile, 38% of opening weekend crowds were 25 or younger, signaling the franchise isn’t just appealing to adults. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” has several other factors that’ll work in its favor, including an “A” grade on CinemaScore exit polls, repeat viewing over the upcoming Christmas stretch (which is the most popular time of year for moviegoing) and, of course, Cameron’s unmatched track record. Cameron is the only filmmaker with three movies to generate more than $2 billion, the other being “Titanic.” Although a daunting 3-hour-plus runtime has never deterred audiences from “Avatar” installments,” the newest film’s three hours and 17 minute length does limit the number of showtimes per day. And while “Avatar: The Way of Water” was plagued by endless release date delays, those postponements ended up contributing to pent-up demand over 13 years. The third entry is arriving a comparatively short three years after its predecessor.
“Openings are not what the ‘Avatar’ movies are about. It’s what they do after they open that made them the No. 2 and three biggest films of all time,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “It will be several weeks before we really know how well the film is doing.”
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” loomed large over domestic box office charts, but it wasn’t the only new nationwide release. In a surprising finish, Angel Studios’ animated biblical musical “David” emerged ahead of two other newcomers, Lionsgate’s psychological thriller “The Housemaid” and Paramount’s “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.”
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“David,” a kid-friendly take on the story of David and Goliath and follow-up to the TV mini-series “Young David,” collected $22 million from 3,118 screens, enough for second place on domestic charts. Those ticket sales mark the best three-day debut for the faith-based Angel Studios, surpassing “Sound of Freedom,” which ignited to $19.6 million and became a sleeper hit with more than $250 million. Ticket buyers were fonder of “David” compared to critics; the family film landed an “A” grade on CinemaScore and 70% Rotten Tomatoes average.
“Families are searching for values-driven films that honor hope,” said Angel’s head of theatrical, Brandon Purdie. “We look forward to a robust theatrical run as this popular animated musical continues to warm hearts and inspire families this Christmas.”
“The Housemaid” started strong in third place with $19 million from 3,015 theaters. Initial crowds were 70% female and 75% above the age of 25, according to PostTrak. They gave the film a “B” grade on CinemaScore exit polls, which isn’t unusual for a movie that leaves audiences feeling unsettled as they leave the theater. Lionsgate is hoping the film, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, becomes a breakout hit among women in the vein of “A Simple Favor,” “Anyone but You,” or “It Ends With Us” (but without the off-screen drama). Directed by Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids”) and adapted from the best-selling novel by Freida McFadden, the R-rated film follows an ex-con who becomes the live-in maid for an ultra-wealthy family.
“SpongeBob” was No. 4 with $16 million from 3,557 locations. The PG-rated film, based on the hit Nickelodeon television show, cost $64 million to produce. Initial ticket sales are by far the lowest of the two prior “SpongeBob” theatrical adventures. The first, 2004’s “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, launched with $32 million, while the second, 2015’s “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,” opened to $55 million. Luckily, moviegoers seem to dig “Search for SquarePants,” which earned an “A-” grade on CinemaScore, the highest of the series.
Disney’s “Zootopia 2” rounded out the top five with $14.5 million in its fourth weekend of release. The animated sequel has generated a massive $282 million domestically and $1.27 billion globally to date, strengthening its standing as the year’s highest-grossing Hollywood release.
Elsewhere, Disney’s political dramedy “Ella McCay” cratered with $480,000 from 2,500 theaters in its sophomore outing. Those ticket sales mark a catastrophic drop of 75% from the film’s $2 million bow, which ranked as one of the worst openings in modern times for Disney. “Ella McCay,” which cost $35 million to produce, has grossed a mere $3.5 million so far.
In limited release, A24’s ping-pong dramedy “Marty Supreme” broke into the top 10 with a mighty $875,000 from just six screens. Those ticket sales translate to $145,933 per theater — the best of the year and highest average since “La La Land” in 2016, according to A24 — and bode remarkably well for the film’s nationwide expansion on Christmas Day. Thanks in no small part to star Timothee Chalamet’s press tour for the ages, A24 says the film played to “sold-out, raucous crowds all weekend,” including exclusive 70mm engagements. Josh Safdie (“Uncut Gems”) directed the 1950s-set “Marty Supreme,” which follows the fictional table-tennis champ Marty Mauser’s pursuit of greatness. It carries a budget of roughly $70 million.
This weekend is expected to kick off one of the busiest stretches for movie theaters. In the coming days, exhibitors will add a number of releases, including the Focus Features musical drama “Song Sung Blue” starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, and Sony’s disaster comedy “Anaconda” with Jack Black and Paul Rudd, to their marquees.
Heading into the final stretch of 2025, overall domestic ticket sales are hovering at $8.38 billion, just 1.3% ahead of last year as well as 22.4% behind 2019, according to Comscore. Despite two billion-dollar hits, May’s “Lilo & Stitch” and November’s “Zootopia 2,” and several surprises like “A Minecraft Movie” and “Demon Slayer,” there were too many big-budget blockbusters that didn’t pull their weight. (“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and all three of Disney’s Marvel adventures, we’re looking at you.) So Hollywood is closely watching to find out whether these holiday offerings can help push the year’s revenues past the projected $9 billion mark.
“The final two weeks of the year are shaping up to be among the most crowded and exciting periods in recent memory,” says Comscore’s head of marketplace trends, Paul Dergarabedian, noting that “theaters and studios had an exhilarating and, at times, tumultuous journey in 2025.”
From Variety US