Avatar: Fire and Ash Misses U.S. Box Office Expectations but Surges in China

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James Cameron’s newest film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, had a somewhat uneven start at the box office. While it didn’t perform as well as expected in the US, it did very well in China, proving the Avatar franchise remains popular with international audiences.

The newest Avatar movie earned $88 million in North American theaters during its opening weekend. Although a good result for many films, it didn’t meet expectations, which were over $100 million. This is a drop from the first weekend earnings of $134 million for 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water, showing that interest in the series has cooled somewhat in the U.S.

Although Fire and Ash didn’t do as well in the United States, it’s been a big success internationally, especially in China. It quickly became one of the highest-grossing American films to open in China after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.

The film Fire and Ash had a strong opening in China, earning $41.3 million in just two days, with $24.1 million of that coming from Saturday alone. This performance, across over 155,000 screenings, beat the Saturday openings of The Way of Water and Jurassic World Dominion. It ranks as the fifth-highest Saturday gross for a Hollywood movie in China since the end of lockdowns, according to data from Koimoi.

The movie is now the fifth highest-grossing film on the list, following Fast X, Godzilla vs. Kong, F9, and Zootopia 2. Experts point to a significant increase in ticket sales—up 40.1% from Friday to Saturday—as evidence of positive reviews and people deciding to see it last minute. A large portion of Saturday’s tickets—around 64%—were actually bought on the same day, meaning demand went beyond pre-sale tickets.

Advance ticket sales for Sunday in China totaled $6.4 million, and the film is projected to earn between $57 million and $60 million during its opening weekend. This would make it one of the biggest Hollywood film debuts in China since cinemas reopened after the pandemic.

Early box office numbers show a big difference between how Fire and Ash performed in North America versus other countries. Koimoi estimates the film earned about $36.5 million domestically, $100.4 million internationally, and $136.9 million worldwide during its opening weekend. Although international sales make up the majority of the early total, the North American revenue is a smaller portion of the overall earnings compared to previous Avatar movies.

The film’s opening weekend in the US was crowded with competition. Several other movies debuted strongly: the animated biblical story David earned $22 million, a record for faith-based animated films. The Housemaid, starring Sydney Sweeney, brought in $19 million, and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants opened with $16 million, splitting the audience further.

The Avatar movies have always been successful not because of huge opening weekends, but because people continue to see them in theaters for months. The first Avatar film, for example, started with $77 million in domestic ticket sales but eventually earned a record-breaking $2.92 billion worldwide. The Way of Water followed this pattern, reaching $2.3 billion globally despite a relatively modest start compared to its final earnings.

It’s still too early to know if Fire and Ash will perform like previous films, but its initial success shows a clear trend for the series: most of the money made on opening weekend now comes from international audiences, especially in China. Compared to this, ticket sales in the U.S. have been relatively lower.

James Cameron’s films have consistently performed well in China, and his latest, Fire and Ash, is no exception. It debuted at the top of the box office in China, proving the franchise remains popular with Chinese viewers, despite recent difficulties for Hollywood films in the US.

Now that the holidays are in full swing, experts are keeping a close eye on how well Avatar: Fire and Ash continues to perform in international markets. They’re also wondering if strong international sales can make up for its disappointing opening weekend in the United States.

Okay, so the opening weekend numbers are in, and here’s the deal: the movie is huge internationally, especially in China – seriously, people there are flocking to see it. But here in the States? It didn’t quite live up to the hype, honestly. We were expecting bigger things domestically, but the overseas numbers are definitely carrying it.

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2025-12-22 15:57