James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water continues to make a massive impact a month and a half after hitting theaters. Just a couple of days after surpassing Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War at the worldwide box office, the first of Cameron's Pandora-centered sequels has now grossed $2.074 billion, placing it above Star Wars: The Force Awakens' $2.07 billion milestone obtained back in 2016. The Way of Water is now the fourth highest-grossing movie of all time at the worldwide box office, only below Cameron's Titanic ($2.19 billion), Avengers: Endgame ($2.799 billion), and the first Avatar movie ($2.9 billion).
Over a billion dollars from the film's box office haul has been obtained from 3D screenings, meaning that around half of the people who ventured out to theaters to enjoy the film had a preference for the format. Added to that, The Way of Water became the second highest IMAX-grossing film in history last week, with its then $227 million gross from the format only bested by its predecessor.
Not only is The Way of Water the highest-grossing film of 2022, but is also the highest-grossing film out of this year's Academy Awards nominees for Best Picture. The film is also nominated for Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design and Best Sound. The 95th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 12 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California. It remains to be seen how many awards the film can take home, after the original Avatar film won three awards out of nine nominations back in 2010.
The Way of Water is the first out of four planned sequels Cameron has in store. The third movie in the Avatar series is currently slated to hit theaters on December 20, 2024. There aren't many plot details available regarding the upcoming film, but Cameron hasn't been afraid to reveal a few tidbits, including the fact that Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) will serve as the narrator for it. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Lo'ak's father, was the narrator in the second film, where he set the tone for the opening and closing sequences of the story.
The first Avatar sequel is currently playing in theaters nationwide, where it is projected to spend its seventh weekend in a row at the top of the domestic box office chart. Check out Collider's interview with Cameron below: