'Avatar: Fire and Ash' leads New Year's Eve box office

James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash closed out 2025 by dominating the New Year's Eve box office, finishing at No. 1 on one of the year's final theatrical days and helping push domestic ticket sales to an estimated $8.9 billion for the year.

The latest installment in the Avatar franchise earned approximately $8.1 million domestically on New Year's Eve, a strong showing for a night that traditionally sees lighter moviegoing due to holiday celebrations. The film has benefited from robust attendance throughout the holiday corridor, particularly in premium large-format theaters, including IMAX and 3D screenings.

Three of Cameron's films — Avatar (2009), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and the aforementioned Titanic — are amongst the top four highest-grossing films of all time, with Avatar in the top spot until it was surpassed by Avengers: Endgame (2019), before returning to first place in 2021.[2] He directed the first film to gross over $1 billion, the first two films to gross over $2 billion each, and is the only director to have had three films gross over $2 billion each.[3][4][5] The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Titanic have been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Cameron also co-founded the production companies Lightstorm Entertainment, Digital Domain, and Earthship Productions. In 2010, Time named Cameron one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

In addition to filmmaking, he is a National Geographic explorer-in-residence and has produced many documentaries on deep-ocean exploration, including Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) and Aliens of the Deep (2005). Cameron has also contributed to underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies, and helped create the new digital 3D Fusion Camera System. In 2012, he became the first person to complete a solo descent to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of Earth's ocean, in the Deepsea Challenger submersible. He is also an environmentalist and runs several sustainability businesses.

Cameron was hired as the visual effects director for the sequel to Piranha (1978), titled Piranha II: The Spawning in 1982. The original director, Miller Drake, left the project due to creative differences with producer Ovidio Assonitis. Shot in Rome, Italy, and on Grand Cayman Island, the film gave Cameron the opportunity to become director for a major film for the first time. Cameron later said that it did not feel like his first film due to power-struggles with Assonitis.[19] Upon release of Piranha II: The Spawning, critics were not impressed; author Tim Healey called it "a marvellously bad movie which splices clichés from every conceivable source".[20]

Since opening in mid-December, Fire and Ash has generated more than $250 million in domestic box office revenue in under two weeks. Internationally, the film has continued to build momentum and is expected to surpass the $1 billion global mark early in the new year, reinforcing the franchise's reputation as one of the most reliable box-office performers in modern cinema.

Despite the strong holiday finish driven by Avatar: Fire and Ash and other major releases, total domestic ticket sales for 2025 narrowly missed industry expectations. Analysts had projected the year could reach or exceed $9 billion, but the final tally landed slightly below that threshold. Still, the figure represents a modest increase over 2024 and signals gradual recovery for theaters amid changing audience habits.

New Year's Eve rankings placed Fire and Ash at the top of the chart, followed closely by Disney's Zootopia 2, which has continued to perform strongly in its own right. Other films rounding out the top positions included a mix of family titles and specialty releases, reflecting a diverse end-of-year slate.

The success of Avatar: Fire and Ash underscores the continued importance of event films in driving theatrical attendance. While the overall box office has not yet returned to pre-pandemic highs, Cameron's visually immersive sequel has once again demonstrated that large-scale cinematic spectacles remain a major draw for audiences worldwide.

As 2026 begins, the film is expected to remain a dominant presence at the box office, providing early momentum for the new year and reinforcing optimism for the theatrical market moving forward.

Cameron was hired as the visual effects director for the sequel to Piranha (1978), titled Piranha II: The Spawning in 1982. The original director, Miller Drake, left the project due to creative differences with producer Ovidio Assonitis. Shot in Rome, Italy, and on Grand Cayman Island, the film gave Cameron the opportunity to become director for a major film for the first time. Cameron later said that it did not feel like his first film due to power-struggles with Assonitis.[19] Upon release of Piranha II: The Spawning, critics were not impressed; author Tim Healey called it "a marvellously bad movie which splices clichés from every conceivable source".[20]