The momentum for Avatar: The Way of Water doesn't appear to be slowing down—the epic science fiction sequel recently surpassed $2.054 billion at the global box office, topping Avengers: Infinity War and becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of all time. The achievement comes shortly after recent reports announcing the long-awaited sequel crossed the $2 billion mark, making it the sixth film in history to do so and the third for director James Cameron, the first filmmaker in history to achieve it. In addition to passing the hit Marvel Studios film, the movie currently stands as the highest-grossing post-pandemic release.

In the coming days, the film will likely swim its way past Star Wars: The Force Awakens' spot at fourth place, where it will sit behind Titanic, another movie from Cameron. Whether the film can surpass Titanic's $2.194 billion remains to be seen, especially as the 1997 film enters its February re-release in celebration of its 25th anniversary. However, with a lack of competition for the next several weeks until the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the movie should continue to maintain steady legs as it continues to climb its way up the all-time list.

Domestically, the film has earned a total of $603 million, currently putting it behind Top Gun: Maverick's $718 million. However, the movie is now tracking ahead of Maverick on its 41st day of release, which tallied $579 million. Should the momentum continue, Avatar: The Way of Water will likely become the highest-grossing domestic release of 2022 in the next several weeks. Compared to its domestic opening of $134 million, the current box office total reflects the strong legs the film has held for the past several weeks following its December debut in contrast to the front-loaded nature of other major blockbusters.

Trinity Jo-Li Bliss as Tuk in Avatar 2 The Way of Water
Image via 20th Century Studios

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A lot was at stake for the franchise's future, with a third film already completed alongside several more down the line already in the works. However, it appears that the 13 years of development have finally paid off. Alongside its global dominance at the box office, the film recently earned four Academy Award nominations, which include Best Achievement in Visual Effects, Best Achievement in Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Motion Picture of the Year.

While details on the next film remain a mystery, Cameron previously revealed that the film will focus more on Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), the son of Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and will feature the Ash People, a Na'vi tribe that lives in the volcanic regions of Pandora. With so much in store for the franchise's future, fans have much to look forward to for the next few years.

Avatar: The Way of Water is now playing in theaters. Check out Collider's interview with Cameron about the Avatar sequels below.