Life finds a way, and Avatar finds a way to rake in those box office dollars. According to Variety, Avatar: The Way of Water just broke $1.708 billion globally. This achievement means it has officially passed 2015’s Jurassic World and has taken its spot as the seventh-highest-grossing movie in film history. This comes shortly after the film overtook Furious 7 and broke into the top 10 list.
Avatar: The Way of Water is the long-awaited sequel to James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster, Avatar. Considering Avatar’s proud ranking as the highest-grossing movie in film history, along with its decade-long production, there was a lot riding on the shoulders of both Cameron and his team. But within the first four weeks since its premiere, The Way of Water managed to pull in $517 million in North America and $1.19 billion overseas.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Avatar: The Way of Water is on its way to becoming both the highest-grossing movie of 2022 and the second most successful film released during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Currently, the number one spot belongs to 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which earned an impressive $1.91 billion at the box office. But judging by the rate of the movie’s income, there’s a chance of the Na’vi de-throning the webbed wonder.
A Road to Pandora, And Possibly $2 Billion
Universal Pictures
For Avatar: The Way of Water to hit the $2 billion milestone in a COVID world was almost unheard of. Even without a pandemic holding it back, the financial milestone is nothing to shake a stick at. As of now, only five movies in history have crossed that $2 billion threshold, Avatar ($2.9 billion), Avengers: Endgame ($.279 billion), Titanic ($2.2 billion), Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.069 billion) and Avengers: Infinity War ($2.04 billion). But at the rate of the film’s steady ticket sales, it’s starting to look more and more like a possibility. A big reason for the film’s current success is likely due to it gaining a big release in China, something Spider-Man: No Way Home lacked. 2009’s Avatar was a large success in China, so much so that a 2021 re-release over there helped Avatar win back its spot as the highest-grossing movie after Avengers: Endgame dethroned it in 2019.
While ticket sales have been steady, that doesn’t mean the $2 billion is in the bag. The Way of Water has already been dethroned after 21 days in the number one spot at the box offices. The film that overtook it? A little Blumhouse horror doll film called M3GAN. The horror movie surpassed the sci-fi action giant by just a mere $300,000, which is absolutely worth celebrating on Blumhouse’s end. Despite the stumble, James Cameron is still confident in The Way of Water and believes it will achieve that $2 billion goal.
Considering Cameron’s previous success, it’s easy to see why he would have such confidence. After all, two of the highest-grossing movies of all time are his. Perhaps in a few weeks, that number will bump up by one.
