Fire and Ash’ Global Box Office Debut, ‘Zootopia 2’ Hits $1.27 Billion

James Cameron’s sci-fi epic “Avatar: Fire and Ash” loomed large over the global box office with $345 million, a robust start that’s nonetheless a significant decline from its predecessor. To compare, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which opened in 2022 after countless release date delays, ignited to $435 million over the same frame.

Initial ticket sales for “Avatar 3,” from Disney and 20th Century, include $257 million internationally and $88 million domestically. Globally, this is the second-largest debut of 2025 behind another Disney juggernaut, “Zootopia 2,” which earned $500 million over the three-day period.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” certainly has a high bar to clear in terms of theatrical expectations because the first two trips to Pandora were smash hits to the tune of above $2 billion at the global box office. Plus, Disney spent a massive $350 million to produce and roughly $150 million to promote, meaning the big-budget blockbuster needs to earn a lot of coin to justify its mega budget.

In that regard, “Avatar” installments have become ubiquitous for their box office longevity. Neither 2009’s “Avatar” nor “The Way of Water” had particularly shattering opening weekends ahead of Christmas, but both remained the de facto choice for moviegoers well into the new year. They stand as two of the highest-grossing movies in history with $2.9 billion and $2.3 billion, respectively.

International audiences will be key to the threequel’s commercial success. The original adventure “Avatar” earned a mammoth $2.1 billion from just overseas markets, while the sequel generated a massive $1.65 billion from foreign territories.

“The first two movies earned over 70% of their box office overseas,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “So far, the foreign openings are extremely strong again.”

That’s led by China, where “Fire and…