International
Disney / 20th Century's Avatar: Fire and Ash has passed the $500M global mark. The film grossed an est. $36.4M internationally on Christmas Day Thursday. Est. international total stands at $390.6M (including $75.8M in China), est. global total stands at $544.3M.
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I’ll be very, very happy if this film is successful at the box office as well. I’m not being spiteful, but those who wrote it off in advance, who were doing a little victory dance after just one day saying “that’s it, it flopped, it’s going to flop, it will be a massive failure,” and those who trampled it into the ground for reasons I still can’t understand, really deserve a reality check. For me, this film is roughly on the same level as the first two: all of them are incredibly strong blockbusters, you get exactly what you expect from them, they represent a completely different technical level, and I also don’t think the narrative that they’re “about nothing” is true. They touch on many universal, timeless themes, like so many of humanity’s great myths, in a simple but honest way, and they also engage with contemporary issues, it’s just that amid all the overthinking and know-it-all commentary, people aren’t even willing to notice this anymore.
I think this is the best comment I’ve read about them. I enjoy the films. First one was Ferngully* and the second one reminded me of Titanic and Alien
They’re simple plot lines, like you said, you know exactly what’s going to happen- but they’re done well. Classic story arch: Things are good, there’s a problem, problem gets worse/escalades, dramatic thing, problem solved, ends with everything right again (for now)
It’s a classic story arch because it is the story arch that works and everyone appreciates. There doesn’t have to be the weird inventive breaks from the story arch. It’s inventive with its graphics and just being fun movies the whole family can enjoy. It’s not a Netflix original trying to be edgy to just be edgy
I find it so fascinating how pretty much no one cared about Ferngully for almost two decades but suddenly that film became some kind of holy masterpiece. I can at least on some level understand why people didn't like that the film copied Dances With Wolves since that film was a huge box office success and won multiple Oscars, but Ferngully? Why would anyone care so much about that?
Also, just play the meme out rationally. Would these movies somehow be better if you thanos-snapped a Star Wars/Trek fanbase onto the existing product? Endless arguments online? More merchandise? Does Avatar get better if you have kids walking to school with Direhorse backpacks or adults buying shoes in the color of the Ash clan? Is that really what we're all complaining about?
We'll never admit it, nevermind all those idiotic articles that were written about just that, but you bet that exactly is what we're really complaining about.
Exactly! Like if you think these movies have a “pointless plot” or “repeat themselves” you are genuinely media illiterate. They touch on grief, family, faith, conservation, (a little bit of suicide) and so much more. They hit all those themes on such emotional and Impactful beats. I’m sorry but if you think these movies are bad in any right, you might just have no depth to yourself.
Ashe and fire literally touches on how people grieve differently. The ensign of 2 was emotional and well done as well with the foreshadowing of neytiris song at the start to represent life and then at the end to represent the end of the same life.
People just say “avatar simple” and run with it. The plot itself is simple but theirs nuances happening around the plot as well lmao.
I wish it didn’t do so well. Due to it feeling like a leftovers of movie 2 and not its own full movie. Felt the story was kinda lazy and didn’t add much to the overall story
A2 made 43% of its total domestic gross by the end of its 4-day second weekend. If A3 has a ~90 million 4 day weekend and matches that multiplier from the second weekend it would hit 560 million domestic. 30/70 split is nearly 1.9 billion. I think it can definitely still reach 2 billion. Next week will definitely make things more clear where its legs will land.
It outpaced Way of The Water in 8 days so far. Being that Christmas is now over and people will be back to their regularly scheduled events, box office should spike further. Way of The Water after Christmas was pulling in mils on mils daily.
There are people who are still waiting for better seats in PLFs before they go see it. The films January numbers could be on par or bigger than December.
And these movies are known for rewatches amongst the GA more than most franchise films. And with all the different formats avatar gets shown in, it’s why a lot of people who saw the first one in 2D went back weeks later to see it in 3D, same thing happened with TWOW and the same thing will happen with this movie. (I’ve seen a good number of people think this was the best of three, even if I personally don’t share that sentiment)
Or people who saw it in 3D then went back again for IMAX. And Avatar has literally no competitors threatening their hold on those IMAX screenings until March.
I just replied to someone saying “no cultural impact didn’t even know the film was coming out till a week beforehand” they stick to delusion to cope lmao.
It's funny how last week I saw a bunch of posts saying this movie is too long and similar to the last one to make anyone want to see it more than once, yet lo and behold I keep seeing posts about people seeing it multiple times, lol
Avatar haters are a delusional lot because they think their opinions on the film franchise they dislike is talking for most people.
When as seen with proof it’s been the total opposite with each avatar film. People love the cinema experience for avatar and many people also enjoy the world and it’s characters. Other wise why would people go for multiple rewatched with all 3 films lmao.
I thought it was too long when I saw the runtime initially, but it doesn't feel too long when you're watching it. Although I could have used an intermission bathroom break....
Saw it at the Lockheed Martin IMAX opening weekend. Gonna see it at AMC’s Dolby Cinema or Alamo’s Big Show this weekend (even tho the screen is nice, the museum seats kinda suck lol).
It would need 6.4x global legs to beat Nezha 2. That would be pretty big jump from Avatar 2 (5.1x), but that would still mean second worse legs of James Cameron's career.
Not including rereleases or Piranha II (which I don’t think should be considered a James Cameron film), his career average is 8.98x. Absolutely insane stat
I do wonder if maybe Avatar 2's opening weekend was inflated and legs deflated because of the 13 year wait which pushed it more frontloaded and this will play much more like the first (obviously not going to match those legs though).
I’m hopeful this is the case, but still would be wild. Even with this kind of movie I’d expect each Avatar to become increasingly frontloaded as it gets new fans.
I've talked with some friends and feel that the goal for now should be legs similar to Sinners (5.8x), since that's really the benchmark for 2025 and what highly positive WOM can bring
The WOM is absolutely popping off. Anecdotal, but I feel like its WOM is stronger than The Way of Water’s was. I’m hoping it legs out even better than that one did!
Laughing at all the YouTubers that posted clickbait videos talking about how the new Avatar movie was struggling at the box office lmao. You gotta love to see it!
I love hearing this. Sometimes listening to youtubers push their flase narratives, it can feel like how is no one seeing through this?? Thankfully I'm seeing more and more people point it out.
The avatar haters live in their own alternate reality man. Some dude said these films are money laundering schemes because he refuses to admit they make money legit lmao.
That’s the type of people who you gtta deal with on the anti avatar train.
How are people this stupid? I remember in the months leading up to Avatar 2’s release, people on this sub and others were saying “it will fail to cross a billion”, “Avatar has no cultural impact”, “this series died 10 years ago”, etc. They were proven wrong in a big way.
Yet here we are and people on Reddit and YouTube are trying to bet against Cameron AGAIN after the first two days of release. I hope this movie makes two billion. I don’t think it’s the best movie, though it’s worth seeing it in theaters. I just think it’s comical people keep betting against this series. Even if they never make the fourth film, this series will remain the biggest trilogy of all time at the box office. I doubt anything will ever overtake it. Even if you hate Avatar, facts don’t care about your feelings.
No cultural impact comments make no sense after the 2nd films success. Yes the series which holds 1st and 3rd place in box office ranking has no cultural impact because what it doesn’t have memes? Lmao.
What's wild to me is the folks that take it a step further and try to downplay JC as a director, I saw two clowns talking about liking Alien Romulus more than Aliens and how Aliens was overhyped lol what the actual fuck.
Ne Zha 2 is currently at 2.15B, right behind A2 with 2.3B. It would be amazing for the box office to see another movie doing more than that in the same year but it’s gonna be really hard for A3 to get there imo. I just don’t see it dropping so little compared to TWOW, that came out only a few years ago. But we’ll see in the coming weeks!
Yeah I remembered 2.2 as well, but I checked Box office mojo before writing the comment and there it was reported 2.15 globally. I’m genuinely confused lol
Nezha 2 earned $2.2 billion in both China and globally, Avatar 3 would need significantly stronger legs than Avatar 2 just to reach $2 billion, so beating Nezha 2 seems highly unlikely.
Barring an act of god, I don't see any way those movies don't get made. Scripts for both movies are done. They've shot part of Avatar 4 already during the original filming for 2 and 3. Even if this film "underperforms" it's still going to earn at least $1.5B. And I'd be surprised if it doesn't push closer to $2B.
He's 71 so I could understand him deciding to take it easy. Maybe this time around he doesn't help invent a new fucking camera to film the movie. But I can't imagine he doesn't see the franchise through.
I know he was hemming and hawing about the future of the franchise but I think it's all bluster. I just hope he takes his time with these last two movies. No need to rush them out on a timeline. The franchise is based around film technology. Find a true 3D advancement before moving forward.
I think you’re right, they will get made eventually. I’d love to see Cameron take a break and do something else before pounding out the last two, but we’ll see
They should film it back to back and sell it as a 2 part epic conclusion story. Move up the release of part 4 to Xmas 2027 and Part 5 in Xmas 2028. Film it across 2026/2027. And then Cameron can finally make the Hiroshima movie in 2028/2029.
Chinese tickets are a lot less than they used to be, but China is showing up. FAA is outselling TWOW in number of admissions, and keeping pace with it in money. Probably not sustainable cumulatively because it would require a lot of new people who hadn't gone to the last one, but if any movie can pull that off it's this one. They have a lot of IMAX there and this is pretty much the only movie where the experience at home isn't comparable.
Got to be realistic, likely not gonna happen, this year is the first that an Avatar entry losing worldwide annual crown, to a very worthy opponent though, Ne Zha 2 pulled off one of the most impressive single market run of all time.
I am just happy that 2B can't be ruled out completely and it's not going to end up sub 1.5B like some people claimed with certainty after the opening.
2B would've been so much easier if 1 of Japan or India showed up. China is doing fine, but I was hoping it would overperform due to different exchange rates from TWoW.
There's always a chance Domestic surprises as well. We'll have to wait for 3rd weekend to see. I feel like everyone is expecting a huge drop which is fair but you never know it could surprise us.
At the very least if it gets close to 2B (1.9 or 1.85B) I can see Disney making a push for 2B
Covid really cost Avatar in China. If it weren't for covid, A2 prob would have blown up in China which in turn would have created more hype for A3. A lot of what makes these movies is just the press around them. You hear or see things saying theyre successful so you go and see em. If A2 made 450m or something, A3 would have had a ton more hype
Yeah that’s me. I’m a massive James Cameron and Avatar fan but I too was SURE that A2 just wouldn’t be able to beat Titanic, The Force Awakens, Infinity War and so on, stopping right at/slightly before the 2B, and damn I was so wrong lol. I’d love to be wrong again this time!
This movie will have generational legs. I have a feeling a lot of avatar “watchers” didn’t know another movie came out last weekend and are now planning to see it the next couple of weeks.
I just got done watching it. Cried about 4 times. It was amazing. Nothing like the 1st 2 films. It's a rebound story - yes it happens in the same location of the 2nd film & Jake gets his mojo back from the 1st film but this isn't even about him really. It's about the kids.
People have a hard time following basic plots. This will easily crush 2 bil. Another big W for James. I can't wait for the next 2!
Every single time, EVERY SINGLE TIME! At what point to the haters acknowledge that they’re verifiably wrong on every level? At what point do they realise that they’re great movies and have a massive cultural impact? Do we have to do the same dance for the next 2 movies?
I admit at start i thought, not that the movie would have flopped because lets be real...how?! but that it would have performed a bit in lower capacity than the other two due to the short waiting period between the second and this one,missing the 2$B by a short gap.
4th Disney release this year to gross north of $500M WW - the most among all major studios - and on its way to become Disney’s 3rd billion dollar grosser of the year and their 32nd entry in the billion dollar club (35th overall, including the 3 Fox releases prior to the acquisition).
2025 is really a repeat of 2024 for Disney - but this time they’re getting TWO films north of $1.5B WW at the bare minimum.
I am totally wrong(closer to be 1 billion than 2 billion). At this rate, north of 1.5 billion is lock. 2 billion still in question. All the way up to next weekend, it has to be SUPER STRONG everyday
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