‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Trails Globally Despite Massive Opening

Darwin, 22 December: James Cameron’s epic fantasy Avatar: Fire and Ash has delivered a huge opening at the global box office, though it has fallen well short of the debut performance of its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).

The third installment in the Avatar franchise recorded a strong start worldwide, earning $345 million in its opening weekend. This makes it the second-highest global opening weekend of the year, behind Disney’s animated fantasy Zootopia 2, which topped the chart with $497.2 million.

Of the total earnings, $88 million came from North America, while international markets contributed $257 million. According to The Associated Press, nearly 66 percent of the film’s global revenue was generated from premium formats such as IMAX and 3D screenings.

While Fire and Ash lagged behind The Way of Water globally, the story was different in China. The film opened to $57.6 million there, surpassing the opening weekend records of the franchise’s previous two installments in the Chinese market.

Overall, Avatar: Fire and Ash trails The Way of Water by about $95 million in worldwide opening weekend earnings. The 2022 sequel had debuted with $435 million globally and went on to earn $2.3 billion worldwide, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time.

In India, the film collected ₹66.25 crore over its opening weekend, despite stiff competition from Aditya Dhar and Ranveer Singh’s period spy thriller Dhurandhar. However, this figure is significantly lower than the Indian opening of The Way of Water, which earned ₹128.80 crore in its opening weekend and crossed the ₹100 crore mark in under three days.

Despite the comparatively slower start, industry analysts believe Avatar: Fire and Ash could still gain momentum in the coming weeks, particularly due to strong performance in premium formats and key international markets.