Director James Cameron is in a league of his own. After a closely contested tussle over the last week, the filmmaker’s latest blockbuster, Avatar: The Way of Water, has overtaken his iconic 1997 hit Titanic to claim the third spot on the list of highest grossing movies of all time at the worldwide box office.
The Way of Water has now made $2.243 billion globally, against Titanic’s $2.242 billion. The 1997 classic was re-released in theaters last week on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, which increased its lead over The Way of Water just as it was about to be overtaken. But the re-release merely delayed the inevitable. Although with The Way of Water also nearing the end of its run in a few weeks, there’s a real chance that these two are locked in an endless fight for the same spot with every subsequent re-release in the future.
That being said, Cameron now holds the staggering distinction of having directed three of the top four highest-grossing movies in history. The first Avatar remains the biggest film of all time, with $2.9 billion at the global box office. Avengers: Endgame is at the number two spot, with nearly $2.8 billion. This weekend, The Way of Water also overtook Jurassic World to become the ninth-biggest film of all time at the domestic box office, with a running total of $657 million. The film will almost certainly overtake Titanic ($671 million) and Avengers: Infinity War ($678 million) to claim the seventh spot on the all-time domestic list in the coming days.
The Way of Water is the highest-grossing film of all-time in France, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Rep, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Turkey, UAE, Cambodia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Colombia and Puerto Rico.
'The Way of Water's Success Wasn't Always Assured
The film’s success — like that of fellow Cameron hits Titanic and Avatar before it — wasn’t a sure thing. The Way of Water arrived in theaters over a decade after the first film, and there were concerns going into the release about its cultural relevance. Even the usually confident Cameron had admitted in an interview with GQ that The Way of Water would need to be the third or fourth highest-grossing movie in history to be counted as a success, considering its high production cost, which was rumored to be bigger than $400 million. He also said that future installments would depend entirely on how The Way of Water film performs.
Cameron shot The Way of Water concurrently with Avatar 3. The third film, Cameron said, would likely have been released regardless of how The Way of Water did at the box office, considering that only the effects were remaining. The filmmaker also filmed bits of the fourth film on the down low. His ambitious plans for the franchise involve five main entries, with the possibility of two more movies depending on audience demand. In an interview with Empire, the filmmaker said that there’s a possibility that he hands over the franchise to another filmmaker down the road, in order to devote time to other projects.
Set a decade after the first Avatar, The Way of Water — starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang and Kate Winslet — takes Jake Sully and his family to uncharted waters on Pandora, as they evade a familiar threat. In addition to being a box office hit, the film has also scored four nominations at the upcoming 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture. You can watch our interview with Cameron here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.