{"id":351424,"date":"2025-12-17T16:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T16:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/351424\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T16:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T16:27:07","slug":"fire-and-ash-box-office-opening-weekend-projections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/351424\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire and Ash’ Box Office Opening Weekend Projections"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWill \u201cAvatar: Fire and Ash<\/a>\u201d hit the box office trifecta?<\/p>\n

\n\tJames Cameron\u2019s two previous epics, 2009\u2019s \u201cAvatar\u201d and 2022\u2019s \u201cAvatar: The Way of Water,\u201d each grossed well over $2 billion globally and stand as two of the biggest movies in history.\u00a0So Hollywood has lofty expectations for the third installment, to say the least.<\/p>\n

\n\tBased on projections,\u00a0Disney\u2019s \u201cAvatar: Fire and Ash\u201d is poised to lead with $90 million to $105 million from 3,800 theaters. The film should collect another $250 million to $275 million in its international debut for a global start between $340 million to $365 million. Turnout is expected to be particularly robust on Imax and 3D screens.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s worth remembering that \u201cAvatar\u201d films are known, not for splashy opening weekends, but rather for unparalleled box-office staying power. The original debuted to $77 million domestically and held onto the No. 1 spot for seven weeks, eventually climbing to $760 million in North America and $2.92 billion worldwide. The sequel (despite a daunting runtime of three hours and 12 minutes) collected $134 million in its domestic debut before powering to $688 million in North America and $2.3 billion worldwide.<\/p>\n

\n\tShould \u201cFire and Ash\u201d chart a similar box office path (assuming the butt-numbing runtime of three hours and 17 minutes doesn\u2019t intimidate audiences this time around either), \u201cAvatar\u201d could become the first film franchise in history with three installments to earn above $2 billion. Disney\u2019s Marvel Cinematic Universe is tied with two $2 billion behemoths, 2019\u2019s \u201cAvengers: Endgame\u201d and 2018\u2019s \u201cAvengers: Infinity War.\u201d Meanwhile Cameron is already the only filmmaker with three movies to generate more than $2 billion, the other being \u201cTitanic.\u201d The newest \u201cAvatar\u201d doesn\u2019t necessarily need to surpass the $2 billion mark to be successful, however Cameron\u2019s films carry gargantuan price tags and require towering global ticket sales to justify their budgets.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAvatar\u201d follows the clan of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Salda\u00f1a) on the alien moon of Pandora. \u201cFire and Ash\u201d picks up after the events of \u201cThe Way of Water,\u201d which charted the conflict between the blue-skinned humanoids known as the Na\u2019vi against the villainous Resources Development Administration. After the death of Jake Sully\u2019s son Neteyam, he and his family seek refuge with the aquatic clan called Metkayina and continue the fight against the RDA as well as a new fiery foe.\u00a0Variety\u2019s<\/a> chief film critic Owen Gleiberman<\/a> was mostly positive in his review, writing that the threequel is \u201cbetter than the second film \u2014 bolder and tighter \u2014 and still has its share of amazements. But it no longer feels visually unprecedented.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRival studios didn\u2019t feel the need to steer clear of \u201cAvatar: Fire and Ash\u201d at the box office. Three new movies, Paramount\u2019s \u201cThe SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants<\/a>,\u201d Lionsgate\u2019s psychological thriller \u201cThe Housemaid<\/a>\u201d and the Angel Studios animated biblical musical drama \u201cDavid,\u201d will try to work as counter-programming against the Pandora-set adventure. Those films will float behind \u201cFire and Ash\u201d on box office charts. However, \u201cAvatar\u201d and \u201cStar Wars\u201d-sized tentpoles aside, Christmastime releases don\u2019t always deliver huge debuts but tend to play and play on the big screen into January and beyond.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Housemaid\u201d is targeting a $20 million to $25 million debut from 3,000 venues. Lionsgate is trying to couch expectations by offering a projection in the mid teens. The studio hopes the $35 million-budgeted film will become a breakout hit among females in the vein of \u201cA Simple Favor,\u201d \u201cAnyone but You,\u201d or \u201cIt Ends With Us\u201d (but without the off-screen drama<\/a>). Directed by Paul Feig (\u201cBridesmaids\u201d) and adapted from the best-selling novel by Freida McFadden, the R-rated film follows a young woman (Sydney Sweeney) with a troubled past who becomes the live-in maid for an ultra-wealthy family who isn\u2019t what it seems. Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar play the not-so-picture-perfect husband and wife while Michele Morrone and Elizabeth Perkins round out the cast. Variety\u2019s Gleiberman praised the campy nature of<\/a> \u201cThe Housemaid,\u201d saying the movie \u201cgoes right over-the-top, but it does so in a way that\u2019s unusually clever and knowing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDavid,\u201d a kid-friendly take on the story of David and Goliath and follow-up to the TV mini-series \u201cYoung David,\u201d could surprise with $20 million to $25 million from 3,100 screens. Angel Studios, which emerged onto the theatrical scene with 2023\u2019s sleeper hit \u201cSound of Freedom,\u201d has been dominating the faith-based space. Earlier this year, the company released the animated biblical adventure \u201cKing of Kings,\u201d which ignited to $19 million and held steady, eventually earning $60 million domestically and $79 million worldwide.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants\u201d is tracking for the No. 4 spot with projections of $15 million to $20 million from 3,500 locations. The PG-rated film cost $64 million to produce. Based on the hit Nickelodeon television show, \u201cSearch for SquarePants\u201d follows the absorbent, yellow\u00a0sponge as he ventures out of Bikini Bottom and travels to the depths of the ocean to find the scary Flying Dutchman.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is the first big-screen \u201cSpongeBob\u201d feature in 10 years, since 2015\u2019s \u201cThe SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.\u201d That film opened to $55 million and eventually powered to $162 domestically and $325 million globally. Those ticket sales were a huge improvement from the original successful theatrical adventure, 2004\u2019s \u201cThe SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which launched with $32 million and ended its run with $85 million in North America and $141 million worldwide. A third installment, \u201cThe SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run,\u201d debuted directly on streaming in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\n\tThese films, as well as the Christmas Day release of A24\u2019s Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet-led ping-pong adventure \u201cMarty Supreme,\u201d the Focus Features musical drama \u201cSong Sung Blue\u201d starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, and Sony\u2019s disaster comedy \u201cAnaconda\u201d with Jack Black and Paul Rudd, will attempt to kick the box office into high gear before the end of the year. Overall domestic ticket sales sit at $8.1 billion, a mere 0.5% ahead of last year as well as 22.7% behind 2019, according to Comscore. So there\u2019s mounting pressure on holiday offerings to inch the year\u2019s revenues closer to the projected $9 billion mark<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s all coming down to you, Jim Cameron. (No pressure.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Will \u201cAvatar: Fire and Ash\u201d hit the box office trifecta? James Cameron\u2019s two previous epics, 2009\u2019s \u201cAvatar\u201d and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5960,49,48,75,79158,152630],"class_list":["post-351424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-avatar-fire-and-ash","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-the-housemaid","tag-the-spongebob-movie-search-for-squarepants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}