Jams Cameron has done it again as the filmmaker’s latest featureAvatar: The Way of Watermanaged to trump one of the director’s most revered works,Titanic, to become the third highest-grossing movie of all time
While theAvatarsequel has been out since mid-December, slowly climbing the ranks of films earning the most revenue ever, Cameron’s sci-fi epic ran into a few obstacles, namelyTitanicbeing rereleased this very month. The latter occurred to celebrateTitanic’s25th anniversary in a new updated format, something that had temporarily pushed outThe Way of Waterout of the podium due to how well this romantic story did at the box office around Valentine’s Day.
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Nevertheless, progress can only be contained for so long asVarietyreports this past weekendAvatar: The Way of Waterreached a global box office of $2.244 billion, narrowly surpassingTitanic’s$2.2428 billion (including new earnings) to irreversibly clinch the number three spot. That means onlyAvengers: Endgameand the firstAvatarfilm now stand aboveThe Way of Water, thus cementing Cameron as the undisputed box office king.
It bears saying thatAvatar’sfirst place was recaptured thanks to rereleases in recent years, particularly with earnings from the Chinese market, sinceEndgamedid beat its record in 2019.ConsideringAvatar 3is planned for 2024, it really wouldn’t be past Cameron to somehow getThe Way of Waterrereleased ahead of the third entry as well.
AlthoughThe Way of Waterdid end up comfortably beating 2022’s other blockbuster,Top Gun: Maverick, the former was much more successful on a global scale, whereas Tom Cruise’s sequel generally performed better in the United States. A crucial element behind both movies’ runs was studios allowing for a longer than average theatrical release, especially sinceAvatar 2endured a rocky start in China due to a brief COVID crisis affecting before its Lunar New Year holidays.
It’s unclear whenAvatar 2will make it to streamingas James Cameron has mixed feelings about that medium, but considering Disney Plus' ongoing transformation as far asMarvelandStar Warsare concerned bringing over a blockbuster likeThe Way of Watershould only be a matter of time. For now, the best way to watch theAvatarsequel is still to go to a movie theater and contributing to the director keeping his records.
