Pandora is more powerful than a galaxy far, far away.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” has passed “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” as the fourth highest-grossing movie of all time. Director James Cameron’s sci-fi epic has now earned $2.075 billion at the global box office.
“The Force Awakens,” another sci-fi sequel released long after previous installments, finished its theatrical run with $2.064 billion after hitting theaters in December 2015.
With this latest box office milestone, Cameron now has three of the top four highest-grossing movies in history — the original “Avatar” is still the champion, while “Titanic” sits in third place.
Ranked above “The Way of Water” on the all-time top grossers list are “Avatar” ($2.92 billion), “Avengers: Endgame” ($2.79 billion) and “Titanic” ($2.2 billion). “Avatar: The Way of Water” has quickly moved up in the record books, surpassing “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($1.92 billion) on Jan. 18 and “Avengers: Infinity War” ($2.05 billion) shortly after on Jan. 26.
Internationally, “Avatar: The Way of Water” now stands as the fourth-highest grossing film in history with $1.46 billion. Domestically, it ranks as the 12th-highest grossing, with potential to pass “Incredibles 2” ($608 million) and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” ($620 million) before the weekend is out.
Industry sources indicate that “Avatar: The Way of Water” needed to earn $1.5 billion to break even, while Cameron at one point stated that it would need to “be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history” to start turning a profit. Well, it’s certainly gotten there now.
A third “Avatar” entry has already been set for release in December 202 and there are plans for a fourth and fifth to continue the intergenerational saga of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri’s (Zoe Saldaña) family.
For the 2023 Academy Awards, “The Way of Water” picked up nominations for best picture, production design, sound and visual effects.