‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Clears a Staggering Milestone Against Vin Diesel's Action Giant

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20th Century Studios/Everett Collection

Published Feb 16, 2026, 3:50 PM EST

In over three years at Collider, senior author Jake has now penned over 2500 articles covering a wide range of TV and film for the resources, lists, utilities, news, and interview teams. Alongside interviewing stars such as Selin Hizli, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Harlan Coben, and Chelsea Peretti, Jake was lucky enough to visit the set of Aardman and Netflix's Wallace and Gromit: A Vengeance Most Fowl in 2024, getting the chance to chat with four-time Academy Award winner Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham. Jake has also worked for other publications, including Agents of Fandom.

The seventh weekend of an impressive 2026 box office has now passed, with no one surprised to see director Emerald Fennell's third feature film, an adaptation of Wuthering Heights, top the domestic ranks. Taking home almost $35 million in domestic revenue from 3,682 theaters, the Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi-led romance feels like the first major box office arrival of 2026. However, this wouldn't have been the case had director James Cameron delayed the release of his hotly anticipated Avatar: Fire and Ash by a couple of weeks.

During its most recent weekend at the U.S. box office, Avatar: Fire and Ash finished in eighth place in the domestic ranks, maintaining its position from the weekend previous with a drop of just 1% in revenue despite losing almost 1,000 locations. The threequel has now hit a global total of $1.46 billion, an eye-watering amount destined to fall notably short of its predecessors. This past weekend has helped Fire and Ash climb even higher in the global charts, now placing as the 15th highest-grossing movie of all time.

In doing so, Fire and Ash has now doubled the haul of the big-budget F9: The Fast Saga, which was released in 2021 and made almost $720 million worldwide. Directed and written by Justin Lin, F9 was a sequel to 2017's The Fate of the Furious and stars Vin Diesel, John Cena, and Jordana Brewster. The tenth overall installment in the franchise, F9 more than tripled its reported $200 million budget as it became the fifth highest-grossing movie of 2021 worldwide.

'Avatar: Fire and Ash' Has Split Critics

With the previous two installments becoming huge critical hits and earning Academy acclaim, Fire and Ash has faced a mixed response. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has earned just 66%, with the consensus from critics reading, "Remaining on the cutting edge of visual effects, Fire and Ash repeats the narrative beats of its predecessors to frustrating effect, but its grand spectacle continues to stoke one-of-a-kind thrills."

However, audiences disagree, proving more universally receptive to Cameron's threequel and awarding a huge 90% score on the same site. The audience consensus reads, "An immersive, mesmerizing visual experience and a long-awaited return to Pandora, Avatar: Fire and Ash reaffirms James Cameron’s status as a contemporary visionary."

You can watch Avatar: Fire and Ash in theaters. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for more updates.