The new Walt Disney (DIS) film “Avatar: Fire and Ash” had a disappointing opening weekend at the holiday box office, selling fewer tickets than expected.
The third installment in James Cameron’s Avatar franchise racked up $88 million U.S. at the North American box office in its first three days of release.
That was well short of the $110 million U.S. to $125 million U.S. forecast among analysts.
The previous film in the series, “Avatar: The Way of Water” brought in $134 million U.S. during its opening weekend in 2022.
Internationally, the film took in $257 million U.S. in ticket receipts, bringing the film’s global total to $345 million U.S.
Disney blamed the disappointing opening to the movie’s three-hour runtime. Critics noted that “Avatar: Fire and Ash” has less technological innovation than its predecessors.
However, the Avatar franchise has never been front-loaded at the box office. The first film, 2009′s “Avatar,” generated $77 million U.S. in its opening weekend domestically.
But that first movie stayed in theaters for nearly a year and eventually earned a total of $2.9 billion U.S. worldwide.
Sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” ran in theaters for 23 weeks and grossed $2.3 billion U.S.
DIS stock is flat on the year, having gained 0.38% to trade at $111.24 U.S. per share.
