Third “Avatar” Gross Is Half Of The First

James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is appears to be closing out its worldwide box-office run with a haul of over $1.44 billion globally, coming in a little under estimates that were projecting a total of around $1.7 billion according to Variety.

It looks as though the film will end at around half the gross of the original’s $2.9 billion and considerably behind the second one’s $2.3 billion worldwide gross. Both those films ranked No. 1 at the box office for seven consecutive weekends, whereas ‘Fire and Ash’ relinquished its crown after its fifth weekend.

It’s noticeable domestically too, where the recent one has just hit $392 million compared to the $688 million total haul of the second. Despite the shortfall, it’s still the second-biggest Hollywood film release globally in 2025.

The trade indicates that the studio spent around $500 million to produce and promote the third film, meaning the profit margin for each film is getting considerably slimmer.

Will Disney still pursue the next two “Avatar” films if they can’t be done more cost-effectively? Stephen Galloway, Dean of Chapman University’s film school, tells the trade:

“It’s one thing to say, ‘This was profitable, not massively so, but the property benefits us in other ways, especially theme parks. It’s another to say, ‘We’re going to invest another $500 million twice,’ if you’re on this downward trajectory. I imagine Disney is doing a lot to put the brakes on budgets – and that may eventually lead to a breaking point. James Cameron makes expensive films.”

Speculation has been firing as to why the repeat business has died off quicker this time – some putting it to the shorter three-year gap between entries or the film’s lengthy 197-minute runtime.

Disney has yet to announce either PVOD or Disney+ streaming dates for the movie but, going by ‘Way of Water’, it likely won’t hit the former until late March/early April and the latter around June.