Avatar: Fire and Ash is now playing in theaters across the globe, and James Cameron's sci-fi threequel is off to a respectable start at the box office after taking in $12 million from Thursday preview screenings domestically and $55.1 million globally.
This is $5M below Avatar: The Way of Water, which made $17M on its way to a $53.2M Friday and $134.1M 3-day back in 2022, but business is expected to pick up significantly over the weekend.
Current estimates are looking at a $90 million - $105 million opening weekend in North America, along with $250 million - $275 million from overseas markets for a $340 million - $365 million worldwide debut. Whether Fire and Ash can ultimately pass the $2 billion milestone like the previous Avatar movies remains to be seen, but it might be a tall order.
Fire and Ash will almost certainly prove to be a huge hit for Disney, but there are a couple of factors that could work against it. For one, the movie clocks-in at 3 hours, 15 minutes, making it the longest instalment in the franchise so far (2009's Avatar ran for 2 hours, 42 minutes, while The Way of Water was 3 hours, 12 minutes). Reviews have also been a little more mixed.
Fire and Ash had been hovering around the 71% mark on Rotten Tomatoes since the embargo lifted earlier this week, but has now dropped to 69% based on 213 reviews. Not a huge difference, of course, but this is something many prospective ticket buyers do tend to take into consideration - especially if they're already on the fence.
Still, the first teaser for Avengers: Doomsday is bound to be a draw, as is the 6-minute prologue for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.
Will Fire and Ash secure a Best Picture Academy Award nomination like its predecessors? Cameron isn't holding out hope.
While speaking to @HertzBarry, the legendary filmmaker noted that the Academy very rarely recognizes the sci-fi genre. “Denis Villeneuve made these 2 magnificent Dune films. Apparently, these films made themselves because he wasn't considered as a director”
Will you be seeing Avatar: Fire and Ash on the big screen this weekend?
"The conflict on Pandora escalates as Jake and Neytiri's family encounter a new, aggressive Na'vi tribe."
Avatar 3 will see the return of cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, Matt Gerald, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Jemaine Clement, Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo and Duane Evans, with David Thewlis also on board as a new character named Paylak.
Two additional sequels, the still untitled Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, are in various stages of production and are expected to be released in 2029 and 2031, respectively.