James Cameron secures a major victory with the movie’s success, making him the sole director to achieve this milestone with three films.
Avatar: The Way of Water has achieved a remarkable milestone by surpassing $2 billion at the global box office. This accomplishment places it among the elite group of only six films in history to achieve this feat, without adjusting for inflation. This success is particularly significant for director James Cameron, as he now holds the distinction of being the only filmmaker with three movies that have reached this milestone.
Disney made an announcement on Sunday revealing that the highly anticipated sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, has amassed a global total of $2.024 billion by the end of the weekend. This outstanding achievement marks the highest box office performance during the pandemic era. Domestically, the film has garnered $598 million, while internationally it has earned an impressive $1.426 billion, with China contributing a substantial $230 million to the overall overseas earnings.
The original Avatar, released 13 years ago, still holds the record as the highest-grossing film of all time, earning $2.9 billion in global ticket sales, including rereleases. James Cameron’s Titanic also joins this prestigious club with $2.19 billion in worldwide earnings. Another notable film, Avengers: Endgame, ranks as the second highest-grossing film globally, just behind the first Avatar, with a total of $2.79 billion in box office revenue.
In a matter of days, The Way of Water is poised to surpass Star Wars: The Force Awakens (with $2.07 billion) and Avengers: Infinity War (with $2.05 billion) to claim the fourth spot on the list of highest-grossing movies of all time.
When promoting The Way of Water, Cameron mentioned that the film would need to make around $2 billion to be considered a big success. The sequel had a production and marketing budget of over $400 million for Disney and 20th Century.
Cameron’s movie has been a success at the box office, consistently performing well since its release in mid-December. In its sixth weekend, it remained at the top of the box office charts, earning $19.7 million domestically. Thanks to Avatar 2’s contribution, the box office revenue for 2023 has increased by over 63 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
Other films that are performing well at the box office include Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the adult dramedy A Man Called Otto, and the sci-fi horror film M3GAN. Additionally, the new mystery thriller Missing debuted at No. 5 with a respectable opening of $9.3 million, mainly due to its appeal among younger female adults.
Another new movie that had a nationwide release over the January 20-22 weekend was the anime film “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond.” However, it had a relatively modest performance at the box office, earning only $1.5 million.
