The latest installment in James Cameron’s Avatar series, Avatar: Fire & Ash, premiered in theaters on December 19, 2025. The movie expands the story on the world of Pandora, introducing the Ash People—a new culture living near volcanoes—and following Jake Sully and his family as they confront fresh dangers from incoming human colonists.
During a recent earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the new Avatar movie, Avatar: Fire & Ash, will be available to stream on Disney+ before the end of September 2026. This means viewers can expect to see it on the platform by the end of Disney’s fiscal year.
As a huge Disney fan, I was really listening during Bob Iger’s last earnings call as CEO – he was passing the baton to Josh D’Amaro, you know? He talked about what Disney+ is offering, and I was thrilled to hear he confirmed two big movies that were in theaters would be coming to the streaming service sometime in 2026. It’s great news for those of us who love watching from home!
Iger announced that both Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash will be available on the streaming service before the year ends. He then explained why these additions are important for Disney+.
As I mentioned before, the original Zootopia and Avatar films each had nearly 1 million views when they started streaming on Disney+. Plus, people have watched a total of hundreds of millions of hours of those movies – it’s close to 200 million hours combined.
Iger further noted that two two films will “have significant value” for Disney+:
Releasing those two movies on Disney+ before the end of the year will definitely be a big boost for the streaming service.
As a huge movie fan, I was really excited to finally get a concrete date for when Avatar: Fire & Ash will hit streaming! Usually, Disney plays it by ear with how long a movie stays in theaters, depending on how well it’s doing. But, Iger just announced a definite end date for its theatrical run, which means we now know exactly when we can watch it from home. It’s great to have that certainty!
How Soon Will Avatar: Fire & Ash’s Streaming Debut Be?
Disney’s financial year concludes on September 26, 2026, but the new movie Avatar: Fire & Ash is expected to be available on Disney+ several months earlier.
The movie Avatar: The Way of Water offers a good example of this trend. It was released in cinemas on December 16, 2022, and became available on Disney+ on June 7, 2023 – a wait of 173 days.
If we use the same release timeframe, Fire & Ash could start streaming in June, following its theatrical release on December 19, 2025.
Iger’s comments suggest Disney has some wiggle room with its release plans. Since Fire & Ash isn’t performing as well as The Way of Water, the company could move up the streaming release date to April or May 2026.
If the movie had been a huge hit in theaters, Disney might have kept it playing longer, potentially until September 26th. But that’s not going to happen, as the film isn’t performing well enough. Disney usually prioritizes making as much money as possible from theatrical releases before moving a film to streaming, so how well it does in theaters is the main thing that decides when it will become available to stream.
James Cameron is a big supporter of movies being shown in theaters first. His Avatar films are made for the biggest screens possible, using technologies like 3D, IMAX, and high frame rates that you can’t get at home.
It took 173 days for Avatar: The Way of Water to become available for streaming, much longer than the usual 90 to 120 days Disney waits for its other movies. The film was first shown in theaters for 102 days before being released digitally, and then stayed exclusive to digital platforms for another 71 days.
The first Avatar movie in 2009 played in cinemas for over 200 days, showing director James Cameron’s dedication to keeping films in theaters for a long time. It made $2.9 billion globally by staying in cinemas, instead of quickly becoming available online.
While Fire & Ash isn’t doing as well as previous films in the series, it might become available for streaming sooner than Avatar and The Way of Water did.
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2026-02-14 06:39