Despite needing to become one of the top 10 grossing movies in history in order to break even, James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water has, in fact, crossed that line less than a month after its release — which means that not only are we going to keep visiting Pandora for the next few years, but Cameron also gets to ...
Avatar 2 has surpassed the estimated break-even point set by industry experts. Avatar: The Way of Water recently became last year's highest-grossing film. The sequel has already earned over $1.5 billion at the box office to surpass Top Gun: Maverick.
Cameron previously said that the "break even" point for Avatar: Way of Water would be an astounding $2 billion. "I'm gonna have to do these other sequels," Cameron said. "I know what I'm going to be doing the next six or seven years. The point is we're going to be okay."
James Cameron's Track Record
Both Titanic and Avatar were expected to be major box office flops, yet not only were both hits they each went on to hold the title of the highest-grossing movie of all time.
In the domestic market, Avatar set the record for the highest-grossing film of all time as well as several weekend records. It also set speed records for grosses at and above $500 million, and had the widest IMAX and 3D releases of any film up to that time. It passed Titanic's gross in 47 days.
Dances With Wolves (1990)
The plot similarities between Avatar and Dances With Wolves are unmistakable - a wounded veteran (Kevin Costner) moves to a new frontier that his people want to exploit for its natural resources.
Many awards pundits thought it would also claim top prizes for Best Picture and Best Director that year, but it lost out to “The Hurt Locker” and its helmer Kathryn Bigelow, who coincidentally was James Cameron's ex-wife.
“Avatar” first became the top-selling global release of all time in 2010 when it usurped Cameron's “Titanic.” In 2019, “Avengers: Endgame” won the title with a $2.797 billion box office haul. As of Saturday, “Avatar's” box office gross surpassed $2.802 billion, allowing it to earn back its crown.
Avatar 2 prevails as Titanic is surpassed by The Way of Water. Titanic's 25th anniversary release allowed it to add another $12 million domestically, bringing its total to $672 million. But overall, the movie made $48 million worldwide and reached $2,243 million globally.
The reason that Avatar: The Way of Water looks different to almost every other movie is because it was filmed and is shown with a high frame rate.
Two billion dollars was the number Cameron put forward during an interview with GQ late last year. When discussing the monster budget for the movie, he said to break even, the movie needed to “be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history,” which would put it in the $2 billion range.
James Cameron's Avatar 2 creates history, beats Avengers Endgame's lifetime business. Avatar 2 Box Office Collection: Performing brilliantly, the film earned over 368.20 crores so far at the domestic box office. The second edition of the Avatar series - 'Avatar: The Way Of Water' was released on December 16, 2022.
In fact, Avatar: The Way of Water only out-earned the original Avatar in its opening weekend. In its second weekend, Avatar: The Way of Water earned $63.3 million against Avatar's $75.6 million, and Avatar: The Way of Water has been the underdog ever since.
After its world premiere in London, the first reactions to Cameron's film are being posted, and they're claiming that Avatar: The Way of Water is as impressive and groundbreaking as the first. Some mention the film's long runtime being a deterring factor.
'Avatar 2' Is Now the Top-Grossing Pandemic-Era Film, Surpassing 'Spider Man' Walt Disney Co.'s Avatar: The Way of Water passed Spider-Man: No Way Home to become the highest-grossing picture released during the pandemic.
(When adjusting for inflation, Gone With the Wind technically holds the title). It took 78 days to reach that milestone, and remained the highest-grossing movie of all time until it was toppled by another Cameron creation, Avatar. In the time since, only 52 movies have broken through that billion-dollar barrier.
Tom Cruise's Box Office Record Explained
Over 30 of Cruise's movies have made over $100 million worldwide. Some of those $100 million movies include Jerry Maguire, Rain Man, and Cocktail, and it's hard to imagine those movies making as much money if they were released today or if they didn't star Tom Cruise.
Titanic became the first movie to gross over $1 billion worldwide on March 1, 1998, in 74 days of release.
Avatar remains the highest-grossing movie of all time at the global box office with $2.84 billion, ahead of Disney/Marvel's Avengers: Endgame ($2.79 billion) in second. Spider-Man: No Way Home is the sixth-highest-grossing title worldwide, with a running total of $1.8 billion.
The original Avatar was so successful because of the novelty of hyperrealism in the late 2000s, which was just developing as an art form. The CGI mimics high-resolution photography, giving filmmakers the ability to create entire virtual worlds that look uncannily real.
Avatar 2 Box Office Beats No Way Home, Becomes Highest-Grossing Pandemic Movie. James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water swims past Spider-Man: No Way Home at the worldwide box office to become the 6th highest-grossing movie ever.
Matt Damon Explained Why He Really Regrets Turning Down "Avatar," And I Get It. We already knew that Matt had passed on the role and a big payday — and now we know how he feels about it.
James: The Underdog Story of how The Hurt Locker won the Oscar for Best Picture over Avatar. It's March 7, 2010, the night of the 82nd Academy Awards.
Matt Damon Says Turning Down 'Avatar' Was 'the Dumbest Thing an Actor Has Ever Done' (Exclusive) | Entertainment Tonight.