Moviegoers are taking the return trip to Pandora.
"Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third chapter in James Cameron's epic science-fiction series, earned $88 million in North American theaters for the film's debut weekend, according to estimates from Comscore released Dec. 21.
This marked a decline from the $134 million opening of the previous installment, 2022's "Avatar: The Way of Water," though better than the $77 million opening weekend of the first "Avatar" in 2009.
While $88 million would normally be considered a slow start for a movie on the scale of "Fire and Ash," the box-office run for "Avatar" movies tends to be a marathon, not a sprint. The series is known for having significant staying power in theaters for several weeks.
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