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James Cameron's return to Pandora arrived with solid but tempered results as Avatar: Fire and Ash debuted to $88 million at the domestic box office, securing the No. 1 spot while falling short of the franchise's previous highs.
The opening marks a noticeable decline from 2022's Avatar: The Way of Water, which launched with $134 million in North America. Still, the third installment's performance largely met studio expectations, particularly given the franchise's long-standing reputation for endurance rather than explosive starts.
Internationally, Fire and Ash generated an additional $257 million, bringing its global opening to $345 million. That figure ranks among the largest worldwide debuts of 2025, though it trails the second film's $435 million global launch. The question now facing exhibitors and analysts is whether Cameron's latest epic can replicate the sustained box office momentum that propelled earlier Avatar films into record-setting territory.