After 18 days in theaters around the world, Disney/20th Century/Lightstorm’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” has joined its predecessors in the $1 billion box office club, now holding a total of $1.08 billion after its third weekend in theaters.
The film also becomes the fourth release in 2025 to cross the famed milestone, the first being 2025’s highest grossing film, “Ne Zha 2,” with $2.2 billion almost entirely from Chinese moviegoers upon its release this past January.
The other two films are, like “Avatar 3,” Disney releases: “Lilo & Stitch” with $1.03 billion and “Zootopia 2” with a running count of $1.58 billion that makes it Disney Animation’s highest grossing film ever, passing “Frozen II.”
The third chapter of James Cameron’s sci-fi series first hit theaters in 14 countries, including France and Germany, on December 17 before coming out in the U.S. two days later. While the film’s $88 million domestic opening was significantly below the $134 million start for “Avatar: The Way of Water” in 2022, it has legged out to $306 million domestic after making an estimated $40 million in its third weekend.
Overseas, the film has cleared $130 million in China, $80 million in France, and $60 million in Germany. It has also cleared $20 million in seven other countries including South Korea, United Kingdom, Mexico, Spain, Australia, India and Italy.
As TheWrap wrote last month, it is unlikely that “Fire and Ash” will reach $2 billion. “The Way of Water” reached $1 billion in 14 days before hitting a final total of $2.32 billion worldwide, and all of the other films that have reached $2 billion hit that $1 billion mark in less time, including “Ne Zha 2,” which hit the mark after 12 days in Chinese theaters.
Theatrical sources told TheWrap they project that “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will reach a final box office total of approximately $1.7 billion, which would be enough to rank it among the top 10 highest grossing movies before inflation adjustment. Depending on how well “Zootopia 2” continues to leg out, it will be either the highest or second highest release from a Hollywood studio in 2025.
And “Zootopia 2” is indeed legging out well with an impressive $19 million in its sixth weekend in domestic theaters as it has passed $1.5 billion in global grosses with $363 million domestic.
In China, the animated film has now passed $600 million as it is still No. 1 on the charts, and is on the doorstep of passing “Avengers: Endgame” as Hollywood’s highest grossing film in the country. It is also No. 1 in Japan, which has become the film’s second highest overseas market with $68.9 million and counting.
Also legging impressively is Lionsgate’s “The Housemaid,” dropping just 1% from its Christmas weekend total for an industry estimated $14.8 million third weekend. With a domestic cume of $75.6 million, Paul Feig’s adaptation of Freida McFadden’s thriller novel is set to become Lionsgate’s first $100 million domestic grosser since “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” in late 2023, having passed that mark globally with $133 million worldwide.
A24’s “Marty Supreme” is fourth as it stampedes towards the indie distributor’s all-time box office record, scoring $12.5 million in its second weekend in wide release as it now stands with a domestic total of $56 million. The film needs roughly $21 million more to pass “Everything Everywhere All at Once” as A24’s top grossing film of all time in the U.S. and has already passed the $50 million total of director Josh Safdie’s last film, “Uncut Gems.”
Sony’s “Anaconda” completes the top 5 with $10 million and a two-weekend total of $45.8 million domestic and $88 million worldwide, putting the adventure comedy on course to be a modest theatrical success for Sony alongside the likes of “One of Them Days” and “28 Years Later” over the past year.
Further down the charts, Paramount’s “The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants” is starting to stabilize with $8.1 million in its third weekend, bringing its total to $57.6 million. While the competition from “Zootopia 2” is expected to keep this animated film short of $100 million domestic, the holiday period is helping with its legs as it dropped just 26% from its post-Xmas weekend total.
Angel’s “David” is just behind with $7.6 million in its third weekend. With a domestic total just under $70 million, it has now passed the theatrical run of Angel’s Easter 2025 film “The King of Kings,” which grossed $61.5 million last spring.
Finally, Vertical earned its best opening weekend in its history with the Daisy Ridley zombie film “We Bury the Dead,” which earned a $2.5 million opening from 1,172 screens. Neon’s “No Other Choice” also expanded to 45 screens in limited release and grossed just under $1 million for a $1.9 million total.
