The Christmas event pic may be coming in on the lower end of expectations, but his films always enjoy unheard of multiples (hence why Cameron lays claim to three of the top four-grossing films of all time).

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.

SUNDAY UPDATE, Refresh for latest…: James Cameron ’s Avatar: Fire and Ash has fired up a $345M global opening. Of that, $257M is from the international box office. This is the 2nd highest studio opening globally of the year, behind only Zootopia 2 . The three Avatar films have now earned over $5.6B to date.

Fans of the "Avatar" franchise will have to wait a few years to see the next two installments, if they happen at all.

Given this all takes place after the events of Fire and Ash, the game therefore confirms that Quaritch survives. He appears to be licking his wounds following the latest defeat, but he’s clearly still aligned with Varang and her legion of followers.

Avatar: Fire and Ash kicked off with a $88 million domestic debut — meaning the blockbuster soared above its rival releases of Sydney Sweeney’s thriller The Housemaid and Angel Studios’ animated musical David, but fell short of its projected $100 million mark.

Fire and Ash' has become a tough competition to the rampaging success of Ranveer Singh's 'Dhurandhar' at the box office in In.