‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Hits $2B At Global Box Office Faster Than ‘Avatar’

Refresh for latest…: The latest rerelease of James Cameron’s Titanic 3D has buoyed the big boat movie to $2.217B globally, meaning it still stands as the No. 3 worldwide release of all time. Right up in its wake, Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has now reached $2,213.5M, still the fourth biggest movie ever and less than $4M from Titanic through Sunday. It will overtake Titanic, it’s just a matter of when.

In both a noble gesture toward exhibition after the studio’s Project Popcorn, and in a means to monetize downstream revenues, Warner Bros is taking what was a HBO Max movie, Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance, and putting into 1,500 theatrical locations this weekend. That’s with a thrifty marketing spend. It’s the second movie after New Line’s House Party ($8.8M)whereby Warners has reversed engineered a streaming release for the big screen. Meanwhile, Paramount, is building off the heat of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, with a 25th anniversary 3D re-issue of the filmmaker’s Oscar winning 1997 title, Titanic. There’s two arguments to be made that either could notch No. 1: Titanic apparently tracking better than the fall re-issue of Avatar ($10.5M opening) with a shot at double digits in 2,400 theaters and the Channing Tatum-Salma Hayek Pinault threequel also having a potential $10M debut with the chance for more heading into Valentine’s Day Tuesday.

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has overtaken the filmmaker’s own Titanic at the international box office with an estimated $1.538B through Sunday. That makes it the No. 3 movie of all time abroad, behind the original Avatar and Avengers: Endgame.

Where will “Avatar: The Way Of Water” end up on the highest-grossing movie of all time list? It currently sits at #4 with a $2.13 billion total gross, just shy of “Titanic” at $2.19 billion. Looking ahead, “Water” overtaking “Titanic” (no pun intended) feels inevitable.

Avatar producer Jon Landau has divulged new details about what we can expect from the next three installments in the franchise — first, when it comes to the nature of Oona Chaplin’s previously announced role in Avatar 3.

Refresh for latest…: The global and international box office had a wild weekend this session amid the continued advancement of Avatar: The Way of Water and a mega-comeback for Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan, while China’s Lunar New Year period concluded as the market’s second-best ever.

EXCLUSIVE: When a tentpole works at the global box office, there’s a ripple effect with exhibition partners, not just the studio, bathing in riches. Such is the case for CJ 4DPlex’s Screen X and 4DX auditoriums which can brag that Avatar: The Way of Water, as it clocks $2.1 billion worldwide, is the exhibitor’s highest grossing movie of all-time with $85M.

Earlier this week, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water became the No. 5 highest-grossing movie ever worldwide, and, as expected, has now surfed to the No. 4 position on the all-time chart. In so doing, it leaves Star Wars: The Force Awakens in its wake with nearly $2.075B globally. 

Well, James Cameron naysayers, it’s time to admit defeat. Variety reports that “Avatar: The Way Of Water” now sits at #5 in the all-time box office gross rankings with $2.054 billion globally.

With Wednesday’s worldwide box office grosses included, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has surpassed $2.054B globally, and jumped up a notch on the all-time worldwide chart. 

In the wake of the breathtaking Avatar: The Way of Water soaring past the $2 billion global gross mark, the James Cameron-directed epic scored a best picture nomination, along with noms for production design, sound and visual effects. The snub of Cameron’s monumental achievement in the best director category continues the franchise’s complex relationship with Oscar.

Refresh for latest…: It’s now official, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has become the sixth movie ever to cross the $2B mark worldwide. It is also the filmmaker’s third to hit the milestone, alongside Titanic and the original Avatar.

Over the past month, the conversation around “Avatar: The Way of Water” has shifted from, “Will it make money?” to “How much money will it make?” James Cameron‘s much-anticipated — or much-derided, depending on where you sit in the contemporary culture wars — was always expected to make money, but everyone has been shocked at its impact at the global box office. Once it became clear that the movie was going to outperform even its most ambitious expectations, the only question became whether this movie could possibly topple the original “Avatar.” And while that remains an open question, in at least one regard, Cameron’s sequel has already proven itself ahead of the pace.

The only new wide studio release this weekend is the Stage 6 and Screen Gems thriller Missing which collected $760K yesterday off of showtimes that began at 4PM at 2,650 locations. The movie, which is from the creatives behindSony’s micro-hit, Searching, is expected to do in the mid single digits off 3,000 theaters.

Suffice it to say that Avatar: The Way of Water commanded the Visual Effects Society’s attention. James Cameron box office-smash sequel scored a record 14 nominations for the 2023 VES Awards, which were announced today.

Avatar: The Way of Water is still smashing it at the box office nearing $2B worldwide and director James Cameron is already teasing the next installment in the film series.

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water continues to outdo itself having crossed $1.8B globally and reaching nearly $1.9B at the worldwide box office through this weekend.

On a winter Thursday still ruled by James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, Sony’s Tom Hanks drama A Man Called Otto and Lionsgate’s Gerard Butler action pic, Plane, sought to get an early start with respectively $635K and $625K each.

EXCLUSIVE: Elvis filmmaker Baz Luhrmann has been tapped to receive the Advanced Imaging Society’s Harold Lloyd Award at the 2023 Lumiere Awards, which are taking place at The Beverly Hills Hotel on February 10.

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water will reign supreme in its fifth weekend over the four-day MLK holiday frame with an estimated take around $35M.