It’s been just over a week since Avatar: Fire and Ash opened in theaters, and it continues to prop up the box office.
The third film in James Cameron’s sci-fi fantasy franchise was released just before the holidays, opening to $345 million worldwide in its first three days. It has since added a global total of $415 million, bringing its total to $760 million after the four-day Christmas holiday, according to Box Office Mojo.
While the film’s current box office takings trail behind its 2022 predecessor, which, after two weekends, had made around $850 million globally, it’s still expected to earn $1 billion by the end of the third weekend. The first Avatar (2009) remains the biggest blockbuster of all time, with a lifetime global box office total of $2.9 billion. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) takes the third spot with $2.3 billion globally.
Avatar: Fire and Ash picks up after the events of the second, with the conflict on Pandora escalating as the Sully family encounters a new, aggressive Na’vi tribe.
In a recent interview, Cameron admitted that he didn’t know whether the “saga goes beyond this point. I hope it does.”
“But, you know, we prove that business case every time we go out,” he added, promising: “If we don’t get to make 4 and 5, for whatever reason, I’ll hold a press conference and I’ll tell you what we were gonna do.”
Meanwhile, Josh Safdie’s latest film, Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet as aspiring table tennis champion Marty Mauser, has performed decently, earning $27.1 million globally since its Christmas Day opening. Ahead of its official theatrical release, the sports drama had already smashed box office records, bringing in $145,900 per screen in just six theaters, making it the highest per-screen-average of 2025.
Adding to the holiday box office total is Paul Feig’s mystery thriller The Housemaid, an adaptation of Freida McFadden’s best-selling novel.
Led by Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney, the movie, which premiered the same day as Avatar: Fire and Ash, fared better than expected in its first four days, earning $23.1 million. Following the holiday weekend, it increased its total to $46.6 million worldwide.
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The holiday season is typically considered a lucrative time for movie theaters, considering adults usually have time off and schools are on break.
According to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, this year was no different.
“It was a really solid end to a tumultuous year,” he told The Associated Press.
“It’s been a roller-coaster ride. I think the best news for the industry — I know we kind of say this every year — but if you look at the lineup for 2026, it’s pretty incredible.”