‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Is Less Than $1 Million Shy of Passing Its Final Box Office Milestone

3 days ago 9

20th Century Studios / courtesy Everett Collection

Published Feb 24, 2026, 8:20 PM 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.

Director James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash has been having an unsteady time in theaters worldwide for over two months. The movie hasn't performed at the level of its two record-breaking predecessors, which remained dominant at the box office for much longer. Avatar: Fire and Ash, on the other hand, has practically reached the end of the line. The trouble is that it seems to be running out of steam just shy of passing two major box office milestones. The movie cost a reported $400 million to produce and likely millions more to market; it had an estimated break-even point of approximately $800 million to $1 billion. While it has been able to meet these benchmarks, it still trails the first Avatar film by around $1.5 billion, and the second by $800 million. This has made the franchise's future uncertain, with Cameron having said that the planned sequels would need much smaller budgets to have a chance of being made.

In addition to being the lowest-grossing installment of the trilogy, Avatar: Fire and Ash also happens to be the least-liked, at least as far as critics on Rotten Tomatoes are concerned. It holds a 66% score on the aggregator website, where the 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 holds an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes and remains the top-grossing film in history with a $2.9 billion global haul. Avatar: The Way of Water has a 76% Rotten Tomatoes score and is the third-biggest film ever made with a $2.3 billion global haul.

Where Does 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' Stand at the Box Office?

Avatar: Fire and Ash is currently sitting at $1.474 billion worldwide, which makes it the 15th-highest-grossing film in global box office history, ahead of Top Gun: Maverick but behind Furious 7. With revenue declining rapidly, it remains to be seen if the movie will be able to pass the $1.5 billion mark worldwide. It's having similar difficulty passing the $400 million milestone domestically, as it sits at $399.4 million. The movie grossed $1.7 million domestically in its 10th weekend, which suggests that it will probably pass the $400 million mark either this week or the coming weekend.

You can still watch Avatar: Fire and Ash in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.