This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Varang, performed by Oona Chaplin, in a scene from “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” (20th Century Studios via AP)
LOS ANGELES – “Avatar: Fire and Ash” continued its strong showing at the box office, grossing $40 million in its third weekend to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.
The third film in director James Cameron’s science fiction series also cleared the $1 billion mark in global ticket sales as it sets its sights on the historic box-office performance of its predecessors.
The original “Avatar,” released in 2009, remains the highest grossing film of all time with over $2.9 billion in worldwide box office receipts. The first sequel, 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” is third all-time with over $2.3 billion.
‘Zootopia 2’
“Zootopia 2” also continued its impressive run, making $19 million Friday through Sunday in its sixth weekend, Comscore reported.
This image released by Disney shows Nick Wilde, voiced by Jason Bateman, left, and Judy Hopps, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, in a scene from “Zootopia 2.” (Disney via AP)
“The Housemaid” took third place with $14.8 million in its third weekend.
“Marty Supreme” was fourth with $12.5 million, followed by “Anaconda,” which took in $10 million in its second weekend.
Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants” ($8.2 million), “David” ($8 million), “Song Sung Blue” ($5.8 million), “Wicked: For Good” ($3.2 million) and “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” ($2.7 million).
This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $132 million. The year-to-date total is $157 million — up 6.6% from the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.
$1 billion milestone
“Fire and Ash” is doing its biggest business overseas; it’s grossed $777.1 million internationally thus far. The Walt Disney Co. on Sunday trumped the $1 billion milestone as “cementing another monumental achievement for James Cameron’s groundbreaking franchise.”
With “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and a wide variety of smaller hits, Hollywood started 2026 strongly. Overall sales were up 26.5% from the same weekend in 2025, according to data firm Comscore.
The movie industry is coming off a poor 2025, where domestic moviegoing continued to slide. US and Canada ticket sales in 2025 amounted to $8.9 billion, a 2% increase from the year earlier, according to Comscore, but about 20% below pre-pandemic levels. That slight improvement was notably less than anticipated and was also boosted by higher ticket prices.
Actual tickets sold declined from more than 800 million in 2024 to around 780 million in 2025.
The industry is now awaiting a potentially seismic shift with Warner Bros., one of the most theatrical-friendly studios, agreeing to sell to Netflix. That $83 billion deal awaits regulatory approval.
Yet studios are cautiously optimistic 2026 could be the best box-office year of the decade. A release slate filled with marquee franchises, including new “Toy Story,” “Avengers,” “Spider-Man,” “Super Mario Bros” and “Dune” movies, has raised hopes of a turnaround. (With CNS and AP reports)
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