This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Varang, performed by Oona Chaplin, in a scene from "Avatar: Fire and Ash." (20th Century Studios via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — “Avatar: Fire and Ash” opened with $345 million in worldwide sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, notching the second-best global debut of the year and potentially putting James Cameron on course to set yet more blockbuster records.

Sixteen years into the “Avatar” saga, Pandora is still abundant in box-office riches. “Fire and Ash,” the third film in Cameron’s science-fiction franchise, launched with $88 million domestically and $257 million internationally. The only film to open bigger in 2025 was “Zootopia 2” ($497.2 million over three days). In the coming weeks, “Fire and Ash” will have the significant benefit of the highly lucrative holiday moviegoing corridor.

But there was a tad less fanfare to this “Avatar” film, coming three years after “Avatar: The Way of Water.” That film launched in 2022 with a massive $435 million globally and $134 million in North America. Domestically, “Fire and Ash” fell a hefty 35% from the previous installment. Reviews for “Fire and Ash” were also more mixed, scoring a series-low 68% “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Yet those quibbles are only a product of the lofty standards of “Avatar.” The first two films rank as two of the three biggest box-office films of all time. To reach those heights, the “Avatar” films have depended on legs more than huge openings.

“Avatar” (2009), opened with $77 million domestically but held the top spot for seven weeks. It ultimately grossed $2.92 billion worldwide. “The Way of Water” also held strong to eventually tally $2.3 billion globally.

“The openings are not what the ‘Avatar’ movies are about,” said David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter on box office numbers. “It’s what they do after they open that made them the no. 2 and no. 3 biggest films of all time.”

For “Fire and Ash” to follow in those footsteps, it will need robust ticket sales to continue for weeks. Working in its favor so far: strong word-of-mouth. Audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore.

In interviews, Cameron has repeatedly said “Fire and Ash” needs to perform well for there to be subsequent “Avatar” films. (Four and five are already written but not greenlit.) These are exceptionally expensive movies to make. With a production budget of at least $400 million, “Fire and Ash” is one of the costliest movies ever made.

“Fire and Ash” didn’t have the weekend entirely to itself. A trio of other new wide releases made it into theaters in hopes of offering some counterprogramming: Lionsgate’s “The Housemaid,” Angel Studios’ “David” and Paramount Pictures’ “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.”

In the race for second place, “David” came out on top. The animated tale of David and Goliath collected $22 million from 3,118 theaters, notching the best opening weekend for Angel Studios, the Christian-oriented studio that emerged with 2023’s surprise hit “Sound of Freedom.”

1. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $88 million.

2. “David,” $22 million.

3. “The Housemaid,” $19 million.

4. “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants,” $16 million.

5. “Zootopia 2,” $14.5 million.

6. “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” $7.3 million.

7. “Wicked: For Good,” $4.3 million.

8. “Dhurandhar,” $2.5 million.

9. “Marty Supreme,” $875,000.

10. “Hamnet,” $850,000.