Oona Chaplin in “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
20TH CENTURY STUDIOS
It’s been almost a month since James Cameron’s third Avatar film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, was released in theaters. How soon will the film be available to stream at home?
Released in theaters domestically on Dec. 19, Avatar: Fire and Ash, of course, follows the releases of Cameron’s 2009 mega-blockbuster Avatar and its mega-successful 2022 sequel Avatar: The Way of Water. Avatar remains the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide with a global box office tally of more than $2.923 billion. Meanwhile, Avatar: The Way of Water is No. 3 on the all-time list with $2.334 billion in ticket sales globally, behind Avengers: Endgame, which holds the No. 2 spot after ggrossing$2.799 billion in worldwide ticket sales in 2019.
Because of Cameron’s stellar track record for success — the writer-director’s Best Picture and Best Directing Oscar-winner Titanic is No. 4 on the all-time global box office list with $2.264 billion in ticket sales — the clout he’s earned means that he doesn’t follow set streaming release patterns by studios like 20th Century Studios or its parent company Disney.
Normally, most films released by Disney or its subsidiaries, 20th Century Studios or Searchlight Pictures have a two-month window between the time their films open in theaters to the day they premiere on digital streaming via premium video on demand, no matter how successful they are. Even films as big as 20th Century Studios’ blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine — which grossed $1.338 billion at the worldwide box office — took just over two months after its theatrical release on July 26, 2024, to reach PVOD on Oct. 1.
More recently, 20th Century Studios’ Predator: Badlands made its PVOD debut on Jan. 6, just a day shy of two months after its theatrical release on Nov. 7, 2024.
Avatar: Fire and Ash fans, however, shouldn’t keep their hopes up for a two-month turnaround for the film’s debut on PVOD. After all, Cameron’s modus operandi has always been to give filmgoers the best theatrical experience possible (he shot Avatar: Fire and Ash, for example, in stereoscopic 3D to give the picture its depth), so the last thing he wants to see, no doubt, is his films rushed to home video.
Will ‘Avatar: Fire And Ash’ Follow The PVOD Release Pattern Of ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’?
Perhaps the best point of reference for the PVOD release pattern of the second Avatar film, Avatar: The Way of Water, since it was also released under Disney’s 20th Century Studios banner. As such, if Avatar: Fire and Ash takes the lead of its predecessor, then fans are possibly in for another two and a half months of waiting before the film’s digital release.
Avatar: The Way of Water was released in theaters on Dec. 16, 2022, and it didn’t debut on PVOD until nearly three and a half months later, on March 28, 2023. Should Avatar: Fire and Ash follow the same pattern, it could appear on PVOD anytime around March 31, since new releases on digital typically come out on Tuesdays.
Subscribers who are waiting for the film to start streaming on Disney+ (or Hulu on Disney+ since it’s a 20th Century Studios film) are likely in for a much longer wait. Since Avatar: The Way of Water didn’t premiere on Disney+ until June 7, 2023 — more than two months after its premiere on PVOD on March 28, 2023 — it is likely that Avatar: Fire and Ash will follow the same pattern.
If it does, then Avatar: Fire and Ash will likely debut on the streaming platform sometime around June 10, since new streaming video on demand releases tend to debut on the Disney+ on Wednesdays.
Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington in “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
20TH CENTURY STUDIOS
How Much Has Avatar: Fire And Ash Earned At The Box Office So Far?
As of the publication of this article, Avatar: Fire and Ash has grossed $350.2 million domestically and nearly $886 million internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $1.2 billion to date.
Avatar: Fire and Ash had a massive production budget, according to different news outlets. The Associated Press reported that the film cost $400 million to produce, not counting marketing costs, while Variety reported that the production budget was $350 million with an additional $150 million spent on marketing.
Rated PG-13, Avatar: Fire and Ash is playing in theaters nationwide.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2026/01/17/how-soon-is-james-camerons-avatar-fire-and-ash-coming-to-streaming/
