‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Falls Drastically Short of Expectations as It Passes Final Box Office Milestone

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20th Century Studios / courtesy Everett Collection

Published Mar 2, 2026, 11:20 AM EST

Rohan Naahar is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

For the first time in its box office run, James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash dropped out of the domestic top 10 this weekend. The movie has spent a remarkable 10 weeks in the top 10. As impressive as the achievement sounds, however, it's nothing like the success that the first Avatar and its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, saw during their respective runs. For instance, the original Avatar spent 14 weeks in the top 10, seven of which were at number one. It remains the highest-grossing movie in history with a lifetime global haul of $2.9 billion. Avatar: The Way of Water, on the other hand, spent 15 weeks in the domestic top 10 on its way to grossing $2.3 billion worldwide. It's the third-biggest film in global box office history. Avatar: Fire and Ash couldn't quite match either of its predecessors' box office performances, putting the future of the landmark franchise in limbo.

The epic sci-fi film also earned less favorable reviews compared to the first and second installments. It's sitting at a 66% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics' consensus reads, "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." By comparison, the first Avatar movie has an 81% score, while the second has a 76%. Both the first and second films earned Best Picture nominations at the Oscars, an achievement that Avatar: Fire and Ash wasn't able to replicate. The threequel's performance has raised questions about the franchise's future, especially with Cameron saying he wants to explore other projects, and because of the high cost and time commitment required to make Avatar films.

Here's How Much 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' Has Grossed at the Box Office

That said, the third installment managed to pass its final domestic box office milestone — the $400 million mark — in its 11th weekend of release. With an additional $1.07 billion from overseas markets, the movie's cumulative global haul stands at $1.48 billion against a reported production budget of $400 million. It grossed around $4 million worldwide this past weekend, which suggests that the $1.5 billion mark might be out of reach. Avatar: Fire and Ash is among the 60 highest-grossing films in global box office history, but has clearly underperformed in the domestic market. It has grossed less domestically, for instance, than two other Disney releases from 2025 — Lilo & Stitch and Zootopia 2. With a 90% audience score, Avatar: Fire and Ash will likely do well on the PVOD and streaming markets. But you can still watch it in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.