Never, ever bet against James Cameron. “Avatar: Fire & Ash” may not match the performance of 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” but it is showing theatrical muscle many distributors were not expecting. The 20th Century Studios release took in $89 million over the last moviegoing weekend. That was substantially less than the $134.1 million “The Way of Water” earned three years ago. But, surprise, it appears the “Avatar” fanbase may have been preoccupied before the holidays. “Fire & Ash” had a massive Christmas Day, taking in $24 million. That’s not that far off from “Way of Water’s” $29.1 million three years ago.
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“Fire & Ash” has now earned $xxx million over just six days domestically. Its international tally has now swelled to $153 million overall. This installment of the “Avatar” series reportedly cost $400 million. It will effectively be in the black around $900-950 million global.
For those keeping track, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” still has the largest Christmas Day gross ever at $49 million in 2015. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” took in $31.6 million in 2021. “Way of Water” now sits behind “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’s” $25.8 million at no. 7 all-time on the Christmas Day chart.
Among other openers, A24’s “Marty Supreme” had a fantastic Christmas, taking in $10 million, including $2 million in Christmas Eve previews. The critically acclaimed drama is expected to do over $25 million over the four-day weekend, although that may be conservative. The Josh Safdie and Timothee Chalamet period piece reportedly cost $70 million.
Sony Pictures’ “Anaconda” earned $9.1 milion including $2 million in previews. The Jack Black and Paul Rudd comedy should take in over $20 million during this initial holiday frame. It reportedly cost $40 million.
Focus Features’ “Song Sung Blue” made an impressive $4.4 million. The mini major expects it to earn $12 million over the frame. This is one to watch, however, as unlike “Marty” and “Anaconda,” it earned a notable A CinemaScore grade from moviegoers. The former and latter earned B+ and B grades, respectively. At a production cost of $30 million, Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson’s musical melodrama should end up a nice hit for the Universal Studios division.
“Zootopia 2” continued to play, earning $5.2 million for another $301 million domestic and a fantastic $1.34 billion worldwide.
Look for a complete box office report on the Christmas Holiday weekend on Sunday.
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