‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Crosses the Billion Dollar Mark

The latest movie in James Cameron’s sci-fi franchise continues attract audiences, and marks Disney’s third billion-dollar earner among its 2025 releases.

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‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ has now crossed a billion dollars at the worldwide box office.
James Cameron’s latest has earned $306 million domestically.
Disney has now release three billion-dollar grossers in the past 12 months.

The changing of the seasons. The tides of the sea. Immutable.

Add to that list the power of director James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ franchise entries to earn a billion dollars, with the latest, ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, crossing that point today according to studio backers Walt Disney.

The official figures are that ‘Fire and Ash’ has earned more than $306 million from domestic box office and $777.1 million internationally. All in all… a billion and counting. Which makes three billion-dollar worldwide titles for Disney released in 2025, as 'Fire and Ash' joins 'Lilo & Stitch' and 'Zootopia 2'.

What is the plot of ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’?

A year after settling in with the Metkayina clan, Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri's (Zoe Saldaña) family grapples with grief after Neteyam's death. They encounter a new, aggressive Na'vi tribe, the Mangkwan clan, also called the Ash People, led by the fiery tribe leader, Varang (Oona Chaplin), who has allied with Jake's enemy, Quaritch (Stephen Lang), as the conflict on Pandora escalates to devastating consequences.

How has ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ been performing?

The latest entry has been praised for its visuals and its sweeping scope, though both reviewers and audiences have still been less enamored of it in general.

Still, that clearly hasn’t hurt its box office power. The bigger question is whether it can match the previous movies, which both crossed two billion. All told, the franchise has earned more than $6.35 billion to date.

James Cameron on ‘Avatar’s future

This is what Cameron recently told The Hollywood Reporter about his feelings on the future of the franchise:

“This can be the last one. There’s only one unanswered question in the story. We may find that the release of ‘Avatar 3’ proves how diminished the cinematic experience is these days, or we may find it proves the case that it’s as strong as it ever was — but only for certain types of films. It’s a coin toss right now. We won’t know until the middle of January.”

And regardless of the final performance, the filmmaker himself is feeling like he might be ready to move on:

“I feel I’m at a bit of a crossroads. Do I want it to be a wild success — which almost compels me to continue and make two more ‘Avatar’ movies? Or do I want it to fail just enough that I can justify doing something else?”

He has a variety of other projects in the works, with an adaptation of Charles Pellegrino's book ‘Ghosts of Hiroshima’ among them. So he may also feel like stepping away completely or handing the ‘Avatar’ directing duties to someone else. As always, though, the decision rests in Cameron’s hands.