FIRE AND ASH Earns $55M From Thursday Previews As Rotten Tomatoes Score Drops Below 70%
Avatar: Fire and Ash is now playing in theaters worldwide, and James Cameron’s sci-fi trio is off to a respectable start at the box office after taking in $12 million from Thursday’s previews domestically and $55.1 million worldwide.
It’s $5 million below Avatar: The Way of Waterwhich earned $17 million on its way to $53.2 million Friday and $134.1 million over three days in 2022, but business is expected to pick up significantly over the weekend.
Current estimates call for an opening weekend of $90 million to $105 million in North America, as well as $250 million to $275 million in overseas markets for a worldwide debut of $340 million to $365 million. If Fire and ashes can ultimately cross the $2 billion mark like the previous one Avatar the films remain to be seen, but it could be a tall order.
Fire and ashes will almost certainly prove to be a huge success for Disney, but several factors could work against it. For one, the film is 3 hours and 15 minutes long, making it the longest installment in the franchise to date (2009). Avatar lasted 2 hours and 42 minutes, while The way of water was 3 hours and 12 minutes). Reviews have also been a bit more mixed.
Fire and ashes has been hovering around the 71% mark on Rotten Tomatoes since the embargo was lifted earlier this week, but has now fallen to 69% based on 213 reviews. It’s not a huge difference, of course, but it’s something that many potential ticket buyers tend to take into consideration, especially if they’re already on the fence.
However, the first teaser of Avengers: Apocalypse is bound to be a draw, just like the 6-minute prologue to Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey.
Will Fire and ashes get an Oscar nomination for best picture like its predecessors? Cameron is not holding out hope.
By speaking to @HertzBarrythe legendary filmmaker noted that the Academy very rarely recognizes the science fiction genre. “Denis Villeneuve directed these 2 magnificent Dune films. Apparently, these films happened on their own because he was not considered a director. »
Will you see Avatar: Fire and Ash on the big screen this weekend?
“The conflict on Pandora escalates as Jake and Neytiri’s family encounter an aggressive new Na’vi tribe.”
Avatar 3 will see the return of actors Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, Matt Gerald, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Jemaine Clement, Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo and Duane Evans, with David Thewlis also on board as a new named character Paylak.
Two additional sequels, the as-yet-untitled Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, are in various stages of production and are expected to be released in 2029 and 2031, respectively.
