James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash didn't quite meet lofty opening weekend estimates when it went on general release on Friday, but the movie looks set to overperform during its second weekend in theaters.
The sci-fi threequel is expected to take in between $55 million and $65 million over the traditional weekend, and $75 million to $80 million through the four-day holiday frame. This would mark a -30% drop, a much stronger hold than The Way of Water, which sunk -52% in its sophomore outing.
Though Fire and Ash made $45M less than its predecessor in its opening weekend, this could indicate that it will have stronger legs. Whether the film can manage to pass $2 billion worldwide like the previous Avatars obviously remains to be seen. Box office analysts aren't confident, but we've learned never to bet against these movies.
As things stand, Fire and Ash is set to pass the $400 million mark worldwide by COB today.
Domestic - $13.3M/$102.5M
Intl - $37.4M/$296.2M
Global - $50.7M/$398.7M
As for the new releases, the Anaconda reboot will likely lead with $20 million from 3,400 venues between Thursday and Sunday, while Marty Supreme is targeting $12 million to $20 million, and Song Sung Blue is projected to earn $10 million to $14 million from 2,400 theaters.
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... all going well!
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves because, first of all, we’ve got to make some money with this one,” Cameron tells Variety when asked about a potential fourth trip to Pandora. “Every time we go out, we have to prove this crazy business case yet again. The world has changed. We all know the stats, where theatrical is. It’s been a bad year. It’s starting to perk up a little bit with a couple of recent releases: Wicked: For Good has done well, and Zootopia 2 is doing well. So, we’ll see.”
"The conflict on Pandora escalates as Jake and Neytiri's family encounter a new, aggressive Na'vi tribe."
Avatar 3 sees 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.