The success of James Cameron's fantasy threequel marks the fifth major weekend in a row at the domestic box office.

When it comes to an Avatar movie, it’s always about their tail at the domestic and global box office. That’s not just because of their runtimes, but also how they launch in the pre-Christmas corridor and find their gas throughout the year-end holiday stretch into January.

"Avatar: Fire and Ash" extinguished its competition and was No. 1 in theaters on Friday, its opener, raking in $36.5 million.

Fire and Ash” has kicked off the pre-Christmas box office with strong numbers, though it falls short of its predecessor. According to early reports, the film earned $88 million domestically and $345 million worldwide in its opening weekend.

Fire and Ash" starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Kate Winslet, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang. Directed by James Cameron

Meanwhile, as ever with Avatar (and most of the director’s works), the screenwriting is direct to the point of clunkiness. All of the dialogue is geared toward communicating plot or plainly stating a character’s emotional state.

Fire and Ash makes its cinematic debut, here's James Cameron's best directorial sci-fi movies to date – and the list is earth-shatteringly impressive.

I see Avatar as a bit of a standout in the market; it always has been,” Cameron told Esquire ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash ’s release. “Can it save the industry? No, of course not. However, we can hope to make some profit and demonstrate what cinema can still achieve.