Avatar: Fire and Ash is soaring onto an impressive all-time box office chart. The sequel is the third installment in James Cameron’s record-shattering epic sci-fi franchise, which kicked off with the first and third highest-grossing movies of all time. The Avatar: Fire and Ash release kicked off on December 19 and passed the billion-dollar mark worldwide on January 4.
Per Variety, as of Sunday morning, Avatar: Fire and Ash is projected to conclude its sixth weekend in theaters with a cumulative worldwide gross of $1.378 billion. This comprises $378 million from the domestic box office and roughly $1 billion from international markets. This is more than enough for the movie to land at No. 19 on the chart of the 20 highest-grossing movies of all time.
Before the weekend began, 2025’s Avatar: Fire and Ash was No. 24 on the all-time chart. As it climbs, it’s passing the all-time worldwide grosses of five smash hits, namely Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi ($1.334 billion), Deadpool & Wolverine ($1.338 billion), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ($1.343 billion), Black Panther ($1.35 billion), and The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($1.361 billion).
Overall, Fire and Ash is showing diminishing returns compared to the previous Avatar movies. Most recently, this was showcased by the Chris Pratt sci-fi movie Mercy usurping it from No. 1 at the domestic box office after five weeks atop the chart, preventing it from matching the seven-week No. 1 streak that was set by both the original 2009 movie and its 2022 sequel, The Way of Water.
However, landing in the Top 20 of all time after just six weekends in theaters is still an impressive result for any movie. Additionally, Avatar: Fire and Ash will likely climb even higher by the end of its run.
However, the road ahead of it grows steeper, because the Top 18 movies of all time are spread out more evenly between Fire and Ash’s current position and the all-time peak, which is the $2.924 billion earned by 2009’s Avatar. In fact, while it seems likely to surpass the $1.405 billion gross of 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron by the end of its seventh weekend, that will probably be the only title it overtakes during that period.
The next-highest-grossing movie on the chart is 2023’s Barbie ($1.447 billion), which would require an additional $42 million to surpass. Ultimately, there is still some doubt as to whether Avatar: Fire and Ash can outgross 2024’s Inside Out 2 ($1.699 billion) to break into the Top 10.
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Release Date
December 19, 2025
Runtime
197 Minutes
