Disney/20th Century/Lightstorm’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” has begun its quest to become 2025’s highest-grossing film of the year with $12 million from Thursday preview screenings and $43 million from 25 overseas markets.
For comparison, the last installment in the series, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” earned $17 million from Thursday previews. “Fire and Ash” is projected for a $90-105 million opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada, compared to $134 million for its predecessor.
Like all holiday films, the full story of how “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will do at the box office and whether it has a chance to join the other installments of James Cameron’s series in the $2 billion global box office club won’t be known for a couple weeks, as many moviegoers will see the three-hour film on and after Christmas Day.
Insiders at Disney told TheWrap that roughly 20% of advance ticket sales were for screenings after opening weekend, which is unheard of for nearly all films released at other times of the year.
Critics continue to skew positive but not strongly so for “Avatar,” as the third installment has a 69% Rotten Tomatoes score. But audiences continue to enjoy the series with an early 92% RT audience score and a 4.5/5 score on PostTrak.
Also opening in previews is Lionsgate’s “The Housemaid,” which earned $2.2 million as it expands to 3,015 theaters this weekend. The Paul Feig thriller starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried is projected for an opening weekend of around $25 million.
More to come…
