"Avatar: Fire and Ash" dominated the New Year's Eve box office, earning $8.1 million. The film propelled 2025 domestic ticket sales to $8.9 billion. Released by 20th Century Studios and Disney, the movie continued its strong performance. The North American box office total fell slightly short of industry expectations.
James Cameron's latest installment reached over $250 million domestically in two weeks. Overseas performance exceeded domestic results. Global earnings are projected to surpass $1 billion soon. Disney acquired the Avatar franchise with its 2019 purchase of Fox.
The film's success underscores the franchise's global appeal. Analysts predict continued box office strength in the new year. The next few weeks will determine its ultimate financial impact.
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Vox's Future Perfect team has released its annual predictions for 2026, focusing on significant global events and trends. The forecasts, accompanied by probability assessments, cover a range of critical issues, from the stability of US democracy and potential economic downturns to geopolitical tensions and cultural shifts, reflecting a commitment to transparent and evidence-based analysis.
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China's box office rebounded in 2025, surpassing $7.4 billion, driven by a surge in animated films and franchise sequels. This recovery highlights the potential of AI-driven animation techniques to create compelling content and the enduring power of established intellectual property in attracting audiences, signaling a shift in entertainment consumption patterns.
Netflix experimented with a limited theatrical release for the "Stranger Things" finale, allowing fans to experience the highly anticipated conclusion on the big screen. This event-ized screening at locations like Hollywood's Egyptian Theater created a communal viewing experience, highlighting the evolving ways streaming content engages with audiences and potentially reshaping release strategies.
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High-resolution images captured by the CHARA Array reveal that novae are complex, multi-stage stellar explosions, challenging previous assumptions of simple blasts. These observations show colliding gas streams and delayed eruptions, generating shock waves that produce intense gamma rays and providing visual confirmation of existing theories. This discovery impacts astrophysics by redefining our understanding of stellar evolution and explosive phenomena in the cosmos.
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