Avatar: Fire and Ash has begun, what Disney undoubtedly hopes is a marathon run at the box office this weekend. The film earned $88 million domestically, and internationally, it earned $257 million. In total, it made $345 million globally during its opening weekend. This is more than the original film made during its opening weekend and less than The Way of Water made. This also makes it one of the stronger releases of the year.

What it hasn’t done is make it the top movie of the year, yet. Traditionally, Avatar movies have held on for weeks at the box office and then built up their massive box office results. The original film remained the number one film for weeks before going on to make $2.92 billion globally. The second film did the same, making $2.3 billion globally. Ironically, both held the top spot domestically for seven weeks.

Another thing that bodes well for the film is that it debuted with a $52 million opening weekend in China. Couple this with the popularity it is seeing elsewhere internationally and its positive CinemaScore and Rotten Tomato reviews, and there should be some good legs on the film in the coming weeks. With this being another big-budget James Cameron film, this will be a good thing as Disney seeks to recoup costs and then make a profit. The film reportedly cost around $350 million to make and then millions more to market. However, if it gets anywhere in the realm of the previous film, the powers that be should be very happy.

Avatar: Fire and Ash Official Description

With “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” James Cameron takes audiences back to Pandora in an immersive new adventure with Marine turned Na’vi leader Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Na’vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and the Sully family. The film, which has a screenplay by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, and a story by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver & Josh Friedman & Shane Salerno, also stars Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, David Thewlis, Jemaine Clement, Giovanni Ribisi, Britain Dalton, Jamie Flatters, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion, Brendan Cowell, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo, Duane Evans, Jr., and Kate Winslet.

Did you see Avatar: Fire and Ash in theaters this weekend? If so, what did you think? If not, are you going to? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!