Avatar: Fire and Ash box office collection Day 1: James Cameron’s movie faces Dhurandhar storm in India

James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash opened in India with ₹20.05 crore on Day 1. The number looked decent at first. Yet, it immediately fell short when compared to Dhurandhar.

The latest Avatar movie failed to reach the predicted numbers as projections suggested an opening of over ₹30 crore. While it did well in the international market, India remained an exception due to Dhurandhar.

Aditya Dhar’s movie is deep into its run and is still showing far stronger numbers. Dhurandhar earned ₹22.5 crore on Day 15 alone. So, a 15-day-old Hindi film beat a brand-new Hollywood blockbuster on its opening day.

The contrast raises a tough question about Avatar’s impact in India. Dhurandhar is holding momentum with steady weekday figures and big weekend jumps while Avatar failed to create the same excitement.

Otherwise, James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash has made a strong global start. It earned $43.1 million ( ₹386 crore) in just two days at the international box office, according to Deadline.

The film opened across 18 countries on Wednesday (17 December) and expanded to 25 more on Thursday (18 December).

The movie scored the biggest opening day of 2025 in several major markets, including Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Iceland, New Zealand, Indonesia (non-local) and Thailand (non-local). Many smaller European countries also recorded similar No. 1 openings, according to the publication.

The China numbers are not included in the $43.1 million total. In China, early Friday estimates indicate a $17.1 million ( ₹153 crore) opening day, placing the film at No. 1.

This would be the third-highest opening day for a Hollywood film since 2022, only behind Zootopia 2 and Fast X. Social media scores are very strong with Maoyan at 9.4 and TPP at 9.5. It is even higher than Avatar: The Way of Water.

In France, the film opened at No. 1 with 50% market share, and 75% of revenue came from 3D and premium formats. Germany saw a 67% market share, with 80% earnings from premium formats. Italy reported a No. 1 opening with 72% market share.

Dhurandhar storm at Indian box office

Dhurandhar, starring Akshaye Khanna, Ranveer Singh and Arjun Rampal among others, has shown a strong and steady performance over its first two weeks at the Indian box office. The film opened well with ₹28 crore on Day 1 and continued rising across the first weekend, touching ₹43 crore on Sunday.

Weekdays remained stable at ₹27 crore for three consecutive days. Week 1 finished at an impressive ₹207.25 crore.

In Week 2, the film gained momentum again. Collections jumped to ₹32.5 crore on the second Friday and peaked at ₹58 crore on the second Sunday.

Although weekday earnings fell, the film still collected ₹253.25 crore in Week 2, taking its India net total to ₹483.15 crore Indian in two weeks.

In two weeks (until Day 14), Dhurandhar’s total worldwide collection stands at ₹710.5 crore, according to Sacnilk. It earned ₹158 crore from the overseas market while the India gross collection stood at ₹552.5 crore.

Now, add ₹22.5 crore on Day 15, and you are looking at an all-time blockbuster in the making.