Avatar Surpasses Titanic, Taking The Third Highest-Grossing Movie To Date

The science fiction/fantasy sequel landed in Titanic‘s place as the third highest-grossing movie of all time around the world. The picture has produced $2,243.2 billion worldwide since being released on December 16, according to a 20th Century Studios press release.

Cameron’s 1997 movie Titanic, has generated $2,242.8 billion worldwide since it was released. The Way of Water has now surpassed 1993’s Jurassic Park, allowing it to become the ninth highest-grossing film of all time in the United States, it stated in the press release.

Following The Way of Water’s entry into the top three films of all time, director Cameron, 68, is now responsible for three of the top four films. His 2009 original Avatar takes first place as the highest-grossing film in time, while the sequel steals third place. Titanic jumped into the fourth spot after the box office totals were released.

The Hollywood Reporter states that Marvel’s 2019 film Avengers: Endgame holds the number 2 spot on the all-time list. This is the only film that Cameron has not directed that is in the top four groups.

GQ reported in November that Cameron stated that the Avatar sequel was “very f—-ing” expensive to produce. However, it has been proven that this film director can roll out great hits.  According to him, to simply break even, The Way of Water had to be the third- or fourth-highest-grossing film by the end of the year.

The Way of Water made it to the billion mark in just 2 weeks and surpassed the $2 billion mark at the universal box office a little over one month after being released per Variety.

Variety reported that  The Way of Water has produced  $574 million in North America and $1.35 billion globally in less than six weeks after its initial release. The movie’s foreign total has proved to be particularly striking due to it isn’t being shown in Russia, where the first movie grossed more than $100 million. However, it was anticipated in Japan it would gross more than what it is, even though the original produced $176 million. According to Disney, which owns the rights to “Avatar,” the movie is exceeding the forecasted projections in China, making $217 million, France generating $123 million, Germany producing $108 million, and in Korea making $93.6 million.

Due to the pandemic, Cameron worried whether the sequel would match Avatar’s success in December 2021. He told Entertainment Weekly that he thought the big issue would be if they are going to make any money. With the movie being so expensive and big to make, it needed to make lots of money. He said it is a gamble after going through COVID.

The Way of Water has been one of the most expensive films to make and promote, weighing in at $460 million. Filming began in 2017 for the movie,  with the world premiere being held on December 6, 2022, in London.

(1)Disney CEO Bob Iger stated in January 2019  that both Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 are being made. One month later, producer Landau said that Avatar 4 and 5 were not only given a green light but that a third of Avatar 4 has already been filmed. Cameron also confirmed that the sequels were approved after The Way of the Water was successful at the box office.

Avatar: The Way of Water stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Giovanni Ribisi, Jake Mclean, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, and more. In addition to nominations for Best Picture at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, the film also received four nominations at the upcoming Academy Awards.

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar:_The_Way_of_Water