Avatar: Fire and Ash Day 1 Box Office: James Cameron Film Opens at $136 Million Worldwide, Trails Behind Zootopia 2

James Cameron’s third installment in the Avatar franchise, Avatar: Fire and Ash, had a strong start in international markets but underperformed in the US, resulting in a modest global debut. While the film crossed the $100 million mark on its opening day, the total fell short of expectations given the franchise’s scale and history.

Avatar: Fire and Ash Box Office Update

The film earned $12 million from US previews ahead of its Friday release and had already raked in $43 million overseas in markets like China, where it opened earlier. On Friday, it added $25 million in North America and $57 million overseas, bringing its worldwide day-one gross to $136.9 million. Of this, $100.4 million came from international markets, according to Box Office Mojo and Comscore.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is projected to collect over $350 million globally in its opening weekend, below the $441 million earned by the previous film three years ago.

Faces Competition from Zootopia 2

The film’s opening also trails behind Zootopia 2, which earned around $150 million worldwide on its first day earlier this year and went on to post a record-breaking $560 million opening—the fourth-highest of all time. Fire and Ash will need strong weekday holds and positive word-of-mouth to approach the $1.5 billion mark worldwide, far short of the $2 billion achieved by the earlier Avatar films.

About Avatar: Fire and Ash

The movie is the third of five planned Avatar films by James Cameron, set on the fictional exomoon Pandora, where the indigenous Na’vi tribe clashes with human colonizers. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Kate Winslet reprise their roles, while Oona Chaplin joins as a new antagonist.