James Cameron's threequel achieved the milestone Saturday at the New Year weekend box office.
After a bumpy 2025, the new year is off to a good start at the domestic box office, thanks to a varied menu of holiday titles that moviegoers are continuing to feast on before schools and college resume and extended work vacations end. Indeed, New Year’s weekend revenue looks to be a post-pandemic best.
Leading the pack, of course, is James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash, which flew past the $1 billion mark at the global box office on Saturday. Disney and 20th Century will announce full details Sunday morning. It’s another notch in Cameron’s belt, who already directed three of the four biggest movies of all time at the global box office, led by Avatar and followed by Avatar: The Way of Water and Titanic.
Avatar 3‘s global earnings through New Year’s Day (Thursday) were a mighty $935 million, including $266 million domestically and $699 overseas. On Friday, it earned another $14 million in North America from 3,832 theaters to finish the day with a domestic total of $280 million. Based on those returns, it should win the weekend with a chart-topping $36 million to $38 million as it crosses the $300 million mark in North America in addition to the billion-dollar milestone.
And, as of Saturday, it is one of only three Hollywood movies released in 2025 to cross $1 billion after fellow Disney titles Lilo & Stitch($1.038 billion) and the record-smashing Zootopia 2, which has grossed $1.51 billion to date since its Thanksgiving release.
And its still going strong. Zootopia 2 is expected to fall a scant seven percent in its sixth weekend to come in second with $18 million or more from 3,285 cinemas.
