Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third installment in James Cameron’s blockbuster sci-fi fantasy series, debuted atop the North American box office with US$88 million in ticket sales in the weekend before Christmas, industry estimates showed Sunday.

Fire and Ash grossed US$345 million worldwide in its opening weekend, and is expected to do very well abroad, according to David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

The Avatar films “connect everywhere around the world”, Gross said, adding that the 20th Century movie — like its predecessors — would likely rev up on “outstanding word-of-mouth”.

“The openings are not what the Avatar movies are about. It’s what they do after they open,” Gross said.

The movie once again stars Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington as Na’vi warrior Neytiri and ex-Marine Jake Sully, who must battle a new foe threatening their family’s life on Pandora.

Debuting in second place with US$20 million was David, an animated retelling of the biblical David and Goliath story from Angel Studios, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations reported.

In third place with US$19 million was Lionsgate’s The Housemaid, a film version of Freida McFadden’s best-selling novel about a young woman (Sydney Sweeney) who is hired by a wealthy couple (Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar) with troubling secrets.

Paramount’s family-friendly animated The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, based on the popular Nickelodeon TV show, opened in fourth place at US$16 million.

And in fifth place was Disney’s feel-good animated film Zootopia 2, which earned US$14.5 million. The Oscar contender has so far taken in US$1.27 billion worldwide.

Rounding out the top 10 are Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (US$7.3 million), Wicked: For Good (US$4.3 million), Dhurandhar (US$2.5 million), Marty Supreme (US$875,000), Hamnet ($850,000).

— AFP