With a two-week re-release in over 40 markets before the long-awaited sequel Avatar: The Way of Water premieres in December, James Cameron’s Avatar has become the first film in history to gross over $2.9 billion worldwide. The new re-release brings the worldwide total to $2.905 billion thanks to $18 million at home and $39 million abroad. Current estimates put the film’s domestic gross at just around $780 million, putting it in fourth place all-time behind only Spider-Man: No Way Home ($814m), Avengers: Endgame ($858m), and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936m).
The Numbers, which tracks movie revenue, reports that Avatar has made $916 million in the United States after adjusting for inflation. After a record-breaking initial run that began in 2009, the picture is being shown in theatres for the fourth time. The first weekend of Avatar only brought in $77 million, making it the second highest grossing picture of December behind I Am Legend. Over the next several months, however, the science fiction epic showed remarkable staying power, eventually surpassing Cameron’s own Titanic as the highest-grossing picture of all time.
Though detractors claim the franchise has had no significant cultural influence, the series’ continued popularity over the past decade belies their claims. A longer cut was released to theatres in 2011 and made approximately $45 million globally. Following its first release in China in 2021, the film had a limited rerelease in 2020 that was aimed toward APAC markets. The movie did quite well in the Middle Kingdom when it was released in 2009, but times have changed dramatically since then.
During that time period, China became the greatest film market in the world, drawing blockbuster movies made in Hollywood specifically for the Chinese market. However, in the post-pandemic period, tougher sanctions have reduced the number of goods that may be shown there. In addition to strengthening its position as the highest-grossing picture of all time, Avatar’s recent re-release helped it increase its lead. In 2021, after Endgame stole the spotlight for a while, it would be re-released in China.
A total of $2.797 billion has been made from Endgame around the world. The top five grossing movies of all time are Titanic ($2.2 billion), The Force Awakens ($2.06 billion), and Avengers: Infinity War ($2.04 billion). Avatar is a 22nd-century epic about colonisation and revolution starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver. The film used cutting-edge CGI and opened up new avenues for 3D screenings that might revolutionise the business. Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, Kate Winslet, Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Cowell, and Vin Diesel will join the cast in the sequel. The Way of Water, which is set to be released on December 16 and was shot concurrently with Avatar 3, will be the first of two sequels revealed, giving the original picture many chances over the following decade to earn more than $3 billion at the worldwide box office.