Records broken by Avatar: The Way of Water. James Cameron’s film exceeded all expectations

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has broken box office records since its release, including surpassing his most famous film of all time.

Avatar: The Way of Water has broken box office records since its release on December 26, 2022. The film followed the success of the first Avatar movie, which was released in 2009. Avatar became the highest-grossing film of all time, knocking Titanic down to #2 and stayed there for ten years until Avengers: Endgame took its place in 2019.

Two years later, Avatar reclaimed its #1 spot, dropping Endgame to #2 and Titanic to #3. Cameron announced in January 2010, just a month after the release of Avatar, that a second film would soon follow. However, it took longer than anticipated.

Avatar: The Way Of Water picks up 15 years after the events of the first film. Cameron confirmed that three more Avatar films are to follow, but admitted that if Avatar: The Way Of Water didn’t do well, he would abandon the sequel. Fortunately for him, he can continue with the films, as the second Avatar broke impressive records at the box office.

Avatar: The Way Of Water was James Cameron’s best opening weekend ever.

Avatar: The Way Of Water opened to an estimated $134 million, making it the biggest opening weekend for any of Cameron’s films. While the film performed poorly compared to predictions of how much it would earn for its opening weekend, the film became Cameron’s first $100 million opening weekend. When the original Avatar was released in 2009, it grossed $77 million for its opening weekend.

Avatar: The Way of Water was the highest-grossing film of 2022

Top Gun: Maverick became the second pandemic-era film to reach the $1 billion mark, after Spider-Man: No Way Home. Unfortunately, it missed out on being the highest-grossing film of 2022 once Avatar: Path of Water hit theaters. The Avatar sequel grossed $1.5 billion in 2022, surpassing Top Gun’s $1.48 billion.

Avatar: The Way of Water is the first film in the pandemic era to reach $2 billion in grosses

With the Covid-19 pandemic, movie theaters closed, and some remained closed for over a year, sending most films to streaming services. When they reopened, some moviegoers were still wary of re-entering the world and sitting in a crowded theater for hours. This led to a lot of low-grossing films, such as Stephen Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, which grossed just $10 million on its opening weekend but cost $100 million.

Things changed a week later when Spider-Man: No Way Home hit theaters and became the first film in the pandemic era to reach $1 billion. Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion followed suit, but Cameron’s Avatar reached new heights, becoming the first film in the pandemic era to reach $2 billion at the box office.

James Cameron is the only director to have three films gross over $2 billion

When Avatar: The Way Of Water reached $2 billion, Cameron achieved something no other director has done, with three films surpassing the $2 billion mark. The Avatar director currently has three films in the top five at the box office and is the only director to do so.

He managed to reclaim the #1 spot with Avatar 12 years after its release and can easily take its sequel to #2 in the same fashion. After Titanic’s 25th anniversary Valentine’s Day and its re-release, its gross has gone up, though it still needs over $500,000.00 to compete with Endgame. Still, Cameron’s achievement is no small feat. With his track record, future Avatar sequels could reach $2 billion.

Avatar: The Way Of Water beats Titanic

In December 1997, moviegoers fell in love with the story of Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt Bukater when Cameron brought Titanic to life on the big screen. In 1998, the film became the highest-grossing film in Oscar history, winning 11 out of 14 nominations and becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. It stayed there for 12 years, before being passed by Avatar at number 2 and then coming in at number 3 in 2019 because of Avengers: Endgame.

When Avatar: The Way Of Water was released, it was at #4, as Cameron’s 1997 masterpiece still held the #3 spot. However, as of February 2023, the Avatar sequel has overtaken Titanic and is now the third highest grossing film of all time.