Avatar Fire and Ash crosses $1 billion worldwide, cements James Cameron’s blockbuster legacy

Avatar: Fire and Ash has dominated the box office for the third straight week, racking up $1 billion worldwide in just three weeks and proving that Pandora still reigns supreme. The third chapter of the sci-fi epic pulled in an estimated $40 million domestically over the weekend, but the real magic is happening overseas, where it has already grossed a staggering $777.1 million. Disney is calling it 'another monumental achievement' for the franchise.

Of course, the holidays weren’t just about flying through the air on Pandora. Hollywood’s winter lineup gave audiences plenty of options beyond blue aliens. Leading the pack: Sydney Sweeney, Timothée Chalamet, and a talking fox or two.

Disney’s Zootopia 2 continues to prove that sequels can have serious staying power. Opening back in November, the animated sequel snagged $19 million over the weekend, down only 4% from last week, bringing its six-week total to $1.59 billion — making it Disney’s second-highest grossing animated film ever, just behind 2019’s photorealistic The Lion King. Clearly, audiences can’t get enough of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde.

Meanwhile, the twisty thriller The Housemaid starring Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried has quietly become a holiday darling for Lionsgate. The film earned $14.9 million this weekend, totaling $75.7 million domestically in three weeks, while international audiences added $57.3 million. Not bad for a movie made on a modest $35 million budget.

And let’s not forget Timothée Chalamet’s turn with Marty Supreme, which also held strong in its third weekend with an estimated $12.6 million, pushing its two-week total to $56 million in North America — already surpassing the global haul of Josh Safdie’s Uncut Gems ($50 million). Table tennis has never looked so cinematic.

Elsewhere in theaters, most movies saw only modest drops. Sony’s action-comedy Anaconda starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd, dipped 31 per cent to $10 million, while Focus Features’ musical rom-com Song Sung Blue fell just 17 per cent, landing at $5.9 million and bringing its domestic total to $25 million. Yes, that’s Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson belting out Neil Diamond, and yes, people are still here for it.

With inputs from the Associated Press