Avatar: Fire and Ash is officially flaming out. The third installment in the James Cameron franchise — whose runtimes may be the only things rivaling the budgets — missed out on its chance at Best Picture glory only to then forfeit its box office glory to Mercy, the new Chris Pratt movie starring AI and a chair.
Big Jim’s latest journey to Pandora — the moon populated by blue humanoids known as the Na’vi — has thus far grossed over $378.4 million domestic and over $1.3 billion worldwide, as of Sunday, Jan. 25.
While 2009’s Avatar and 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water both grossed well over $2 billion globally, the third and most recent iteration has only cleared the billion-dollar mark thus far.
It’s also the first of the three not to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture — that slot almost certainly went to F1, Apple TV+’s nearly three-hour ad for the titular sport and Brad Pitt defying the aesthetic perils of age. Fire and Ash, though, is contending for Costume Design and Visual Effects. Though the overshadowing by Mercy might be the real blow.
How Much Did ‘Mercy’ Have to Make to Overthrow ‘Avatar’?
Well, first, keep the date in mind. The winter storm, which started early Jan. 25, rendered nearly 1 million without power as it impacted dozens of states — and necessitated over 400 theater closures. This, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, played a key role in why Pratt’s muted answer to Minority Report managed to overtake Avatar at the box office with just $11.2 million in North America and an overseas opening of $11.6 million.
By early Sunday evening, Mercy had raked in $22.8 million worldwide, though its 100-minute runtime couldn’t have hurt. (Avatar: Fire and Ash, for reference, comes in at 3h17m, which is three whole minutes longer than Cameron’s far more beloved standalone, Titanic, which, for reference, grossed over $2.2BN worldwide.)
OK, Back up, What Is ‘Mercy’?
Short answer: What The Town host Matt Belloni dubbed “the Chris Pratt sits in a chair movie.”
Longer answer that’s still shorter than any Avatarmovie: Timur Bekmambetov’s new flick centers on Pratt’s LAPD Detective suspected of murdering his wife and put on trial by the tech he helped put in place. Rebecca Ferguson, taking a respite from Dune‘s Arrakis, plays the AI judge presiding over the case (unclear if synthetic “performer” Tilly Norwood was up for the role as well).
Is ‘Mercy’ Worth the Price of Admission?
Well, if the 20% and 34% approval ratings it currently boasts on respective review aggregators Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic are anything to go by… It’s not above reproach.
The Guardian found it “ingenious and watchable” — albeit “lenient on AI” — while The Wall Street Journalfound it “so frenetic that it’s a slog.” The Boston Globe likened Mercy to something “written as an AI system’s prompt response.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash, coming in at the lowest-grossing and rated of the three films, meanwhile, holds a 61 generally favorable score on Metacritic and 66% approval rating on RT.
