James Cameron’s ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ blazes past $1 billion globally

James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash has crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, solidifying the director's record as the first filmmaker with four billion-dollar blockbusters.

The third instalment of the Avatar series, which opened on December 19, 2025, in the middle of the Christmas period, made close to $1.08 billion in total worldwide box office. Of the total, $306 million came from the United States and Canada, and $777.1 million came from other countries.

The success highlights Avatar: Fire and Ash's continued audience popularity after its opening weekend and places it in an exclusive group of billion-dollar movies. The film achieved the milestone due to strong international box office results and ongoing demand for premium format screenings, roughly 18 days after its theatrical release.

With this achievement, Cameron becomes one of the few directors whose films have made more than $1 billion. In addition to Fire and Ash, his other big-screen successes include Titanic (1997), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), and the original Avatar (2009).

The Avatar series, which has already earned over $6.35 billion worldwide from its three theatrical films, is strengthened byFire and Ash. With around $2.92 billion, the original Avatar is still the highest-grossing movie ever, while The Way of Water earned over $2 billion.

Besides Cameron's threequel, only two Hollywood films produced in 2025—

Lilo & Stitch ($1.038 billion) and the record-breaking Zootopia 2, which has now grossed over $1.558 billion worldwide—have made more than $1 billion.

Zootopia 2 is predicted to make at least $18 million from 3,285 cinemas in its sixth run, a mere 7% decline. The sequel surpassed Frozen II ($1.453 billion) earlier this week to become the highest-grossing film in the history of Walt Disney Animation Studios without accounting for inflation.

Lionsgate's twisted drama The Housemaid, starring Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, also became a Christmas season success. It made $75.7 million domestically over the course of three weeks, including $14.9 million over the weekend. It barely dropped by 3% from the previous weekend.

As Avatar: Fire and Ash begins its theatrical run across the world, industry observers are watching to see whether it will exceed the $2 billion mark, which the first two Avatar films did.