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Disney watches the box office roll in as James Cameron’s epic opens below expectations—but history suggests patience may pay off.
We don’t just mean that it’s long. Despite its fiery title, Avatar: Fire and Ash didn’t exactly burn up the box office this weekend. The third installment in James Cameron’s epic franchise—running a hefty 3 hours and 15 minutes—earned an estimated $88 million in North America, enough to easily top the weekend but short of the $110–$125 million analysts had predicted.
A slow burn? That wouldn’t be new for Avatar. Cameron is famously unafraid of taking his time—or going underwater.
The original Avatar, released in 2009, also opened modestly, pulling in just $77 million in its first weekend before going on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, with $2.9 billion worldwide. Its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, debuted in 2022 and ultimately earned $2.3 billion, making it the third-highest-grossing movie in history.
So what’s the deal with these films? As Northeastern Global News once noted, the Avatar franchise “earns billions and then disappears without much cultural trace.” According to Northeastern communication studies professor Steve Granelli, that’s because the films are “visually compelling, highly digestible stories that can really only be appreciated on the big screen.”
The takeaway: Disney is closely monitoring ticket sales as it prepares to release two more Avatar films in the coming years—for now.
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