James Cameron's Titanic down to #3. Cameron announced in January 2010, just one month after Avatar's release, that a second film would be coming soon. However, it took years longer to make than anticipated.
Avatar: The Way Of The Water picks up 15 years after the events in the first film. Jake Sully and Neytiri now share five children. They have two sons, Neteyam and Lo'ak, a daughter named Tuk, and two adopted children, Kiri and Spider. The film follows their family as the RDA returns to Pandora because Earth is dying, and a lot of trouble follows. Cameron has confirmed there are three more Avatar movies to come but itted if Avatar: The Way Of The Water didn't perform well, he would scrap the sequels. Lucky for him, he can go on with the films as the second Avatar has broken impressive records at the box office.
5 Avatar: The Way Of The Water Was James Cameron's Highest Opening Weekend
Avatar: The Way Of The Water opened with an estimated $134 million, making it the highest opening weekend for any of Cameron's films. While the film underperformed compared to predictions of how much it would gross for the opening weekend, the film became Cameron's first $100 million opening weekend. When the original Avatar was released in 2009, it grossed $77 million for its opening weekend.
Cameron's film, James Cameron's early movies 39 years ago.
4 Avatar: The Way Of The Water Was The Highest Grossing Film Of 2022
Spider-Man: No Way Home. Unfortunately, it lost out on its opportunity to be the highest-grossing film of 2022 once Avatar: The Way Of The Water hit theaters. The Avatar sequel grossed $1.5 billion in 2022, suring Top Gun's $1.48 billion.
The Top Gun sequel was released on May 27th, 2022, and for months it seemed nothing could top it. Not even Cameron knocked Cruise's highest-grossing film out of the #1 spot.
3 Avatar: The Way Of The Water Is The First Pandemic-Era Film To Reach $2 Billion
With the Covid-19 pandemic, movie theaters shut down, and some stayed closed for over a year, sending most movies to streaming services. When they did reopen, some moviegoers were still wary about reentering the world and sitting in a crowded theater for hours at a time. This resulted in a lot of low-grossing films, like Stephen Spielberg's West Side Story remake, which only garnered $10 million opening weekend but cost $100 million to make.
Things shifted a week later when Spider-Man: No Way Home hit theaters and became the first pandemic-era film to hit $1 billion. Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion followed suit, but Cameron's Avatar reached new heights, becoming the first pandemic-era film to hit $2 billion at the box office. This should be no surprise based on his box office history. Clearly, his power stands strong, and fans are still pouring into theaters for the film thirteen years after the original was released in theaters.
2 James Cameron Is The Only Director To Land Three Films Above $2 Billion
When Avatar: The Way Of The Water hit $2 billion, Cameron achieved something no other director has, with three films suring the $2 billion mark. The Avatar director currently has three films in the top five at the box office and is the only director to do so. If it weren't for Avengers: Endgame, Cameron would likely dominate the top three spots, though it's still possible he could knock the marvel film down to #4.
He was able to reclaim the #1 spot with Avatar 12 years after its release, and he can easily get its sequel up to the #2 spot the same way. After Titanic's Valentine's Day 25th anniversary rerelease, its gross increased, though it still needs over $500,000,00 to compete with Endgame. Still, Cameron's accomplishment is no small feat. With his track record, the Avatar sequels might hit $2 billion too, meaning anyone wanting their film to reach the top of the box office will have to go through Cameron first.
1 Avatar: The Way Of The Water Beat Titanic For The Box Office #3 Spot
In December 1997, moviegoers fell in love with Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt Bukater's romance when Cameron brought Titanic back to life on the big screen in Titanic. In 1998, the film tied as the most-awarded film in Oscar history, with 11 wins out of 14 nominations, and became the highest-grossing film of all time. It stayed there for 12 years before being Avatar and then bumped to #3 in 2019 by Avengers: Endgame. When Avatar: The Way Of The Water was released, it sat at #4 as Cameron's 1997 masterpiece still held the #3 spot. However, as of February 2023, the Avatar sequel has sured Titanic and is now the #3 highest-grossing film of all time. It took twelve years for Cameron's first Avatar to knock it out of its #1 spot and 10 more years for the marvel film to push it down to #3, making it clear beating Titanic is a massive accomplishment.
Avatar: The Way Of The Water has been in theaters for over two months, and while the initial hype has died down, it's still reaching new pinnacles. With the Oscars coming up and the film's four nominations, including Best Picture, Avatar: The Way Of The Water is only getting more promo, and in the same way the award show rose Titanic's gross, it can also get more people viewing the Avatar sequel. Cameron's film has a long way to go before beating Avengers: Endgame, but anything's possible for the man who's spent over 20 years #1 at the box office.
