Avatar: Fire and Ash may leave critics and audiences the most divided yet, as first showings begin across the world. James Cameron’s beautiful Pandora world is back on center stage, focusing on Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and the children’s ongoing battles with the Sky people, while facing an aggressive Na’vi tribe led by Varang (Oona Caplin). According to Rotten Tomatoes, Avatar: Fire and Ash currently has a 91% audience score based on over 500 verified ratings. While the score will fluctuate as more people congregate at theaters during the holidays, it’s the second-highest Popcornmeter in the franchise, just behind The Way of Water, which had 92%. More importantly, the score means that it will set the widest Rotten Tomatoes gap between critics and audiences in terms of the Avatar franchise. While audiences seem to be responding well to the third installment, critics were not as generous. With a total of 217 reviews so far, Fire and Ash currently has 68%, setting a record-low critical score for the franchise.
While the Rotten Tomatoes score is still fresh for the third installment, critics found it to be the least favorable in the franchise so far. While the reviews praised Fire and Ash for the incredible visual effects and the worldbuilding of Pandora, there was a common consensus that it wasn’t the freshest entry since it repeated too many of the same conflicts and issues from the previous installment. In ScreenRant’s review of Avatar: Fire and Ash, Todd Gilchrist shared this issue, saying: “Cameron seems to believe that the series’ many characters are all equally interesting or beloved, and as a result Fire and Ash repeats a lot of the same dynamics and conflicts as in the first two films, and especially those of The Way of Water.” He still found the experience quite engaging despite the narrative repetition, awarding it an 8 out of 10 stars. Despite the key issue with the narrative, that seems to be the least of the concerns for audiences. Given the high audience score, viewers seem far more entertained by the third installment than critics, and that’s evident by the wide gap between the Rotten Tomatoes scores. As of writing, there is a 23-point difference. The original Avatar has the smallest gap by a single point.

Avatar Movies

Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Score

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score

Difference

Avatar (2009)

81%

82%

1

Avatar: The Way of Water (2023)

76%

92%

16

Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)

68%

91%

23

The positive reception from audiences is crucial for the Avatar franchise’s future. The series is easily one of the most profitable franchises under the Disney banner, especially with the first two movies passing the two billion-dollar mark, so the studio has already confirmed a fourth and fifth movie. However, Cameron admitted that the releases of Avatar 4 and 5 may not be guaranteed if Fire and Ash underperforms significantly.

Kiri looking worried and scared in Avatar Fire and Ash

Current projections are showing that Fire and Ash will debut just under The Way of Water with a $100 million opening. While it’s better than the original’s debut with $77 million, it’s questionable whether the third installment can continue the streak and hit the $2 billion mark like the others.

Even with this hiccup, it’s clear that the box office will determine the franchise’s fate, and that relies on the audience. The positive reactions mean that there could be strong word of mouth, which could boost its commercial performance into the holidays. That alone may just save the franchise and allow Cameron’s full vision to come true to the end. Plus, he is the one filmmaker who could accomplish the impossible. Avatar: Fire and Ash is now playing in theaters. Avatar 4 and 5 are scheduled to release on December 21, 2029, and December 19, 2031, respectively.

Release Date

December 19, 2025

Runtime

197 Minutes

Writers

Amanda Silver, Rick Jaffa, James Cameron, Josh Friedman, Shane Salerno

Producers

Jon Landau, James Cameron, Brigitte Yorke, Jamie Landau, Maria Battle-Campbell