Tales From The Box Office: How Avatar Became The Biggest Movie Of All Time (Twice)

(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)

There are lots and lots of movies that have made lots and lots of money over the years of cinema's history. Heck, as of writing this (December 2022), there are 51 different movies that have made at least $1 billion at the box office, with "Jurassic World: Dominion" serving as the most recent addition to that coveted list. But only one movie gets to claim the top spot as the highest-grossing movie of all time: James Cameron's 2009 sci-fi blockbuster "Avatar." In a list dominated by reboots, sequels, and adaptations, an original sci-fi film from the most commercially successful director of all time reigns supreme.

Frankly, for many years, it wasn't even all that close. Only five movies have ever crossed $2 billion in ticket sales and "Avatar" got closer to $3 billion. Until 2019, Cameron's own "Titanic" was the next closest film, with $2.2 billion to its name. That's how much money "Avatar" made; that's how much of a phenomenon it was. But perhaps the most amazing part of all is that, in 2019, one big-ass superhero movie came in and briefly managed to take the top spot, only for Cameron to prove his worth once again and reclaim the throne with the same damn movie.

So, how is it that "Avatar" became the biggest movie in history on two different occasions? In honor of the upcoming release of "Avatar: The Way of Water," a sequel 13 years in the making, we're looking back at the original, how it came to be, how it carved an unconventional path to box office dominance, and what lessons we can learn from it as Disney hopes to cash in on its sequel that carries a budget north of $350 million. Let's dig in, shall we?

The movie: Avatar

James Cameron scored an unfathomably huge hit in 1997 with "Titanic," in a career already filled with huge hits. The man who made "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Aliens" truly outdid himself. Then he decided to wait more than a decade to release his next film, though it wasn't for a lack of trying. Cameron was developing two movies simultaneously: "Alita: Battle Angel" (eventually directed by Robert Rodriguez) and "Avatar." As he explained in 2007, both films were all about pushing filmmaking technology forward and, in the end, "Alita" just didn't have a script he was happy with. So, "Avatar" became the horse he bet on.

"I began to run into a bunch of script problems with 'Battle Angel,' because I was synthesizing down these graphic novels ... I switched to 'Avatar' and we started developing that. Then, of course, a great script came in on 'Battle Angel'! Which is a good problem to have, because I had two great projects, either one of which the studio would be happy to go ahead with. I would say it was August or September of 2005 we decided to push ahead with 'Avatar'."

That having been said, it wasn't smooth sailing from that point on. Fox, at one point, was a little reluctant to commit to a green light given the steep budget. Disney even flirted with making the first "Avatar" while Fox was on the fence, but that only forced the latter to pull the trigger. As for Cameron's inspiration? Just a whole bunch of sci-fi he liked growing up, for the most part.

"My inspiration is every single science fiction book I read as a kid. And a few that weren't science fiction. The Edgar Rice Burroughs books, H. Rider Haggard — the manly, jungle adventure writers. I wanted to do an old fashioned jungle adventure, just set it on another planet, and play by those rules."

The financial journey

Ultimately, for all of the CGI-heavy technical innovation and massive production, Fox shelled out $237 million (before marketing) to bring James Cameron's vision to life. And that's a movie that, with all due respect, counts Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver as its biggest stars. Solid names at the time? You bet! But this was before Saldana became a blockbuster mainstay and none of them were A-list, meat-in-seat draws (maybe aside from Sigourney). In an era of Hollywood where most blockbusters are based on some form of pre-existing intellectual property, it's tough to think about in hindsight.

The movie opened in theaters on December 18, 2009, easily topping the charts with $77 million. While a solid number, it's not exactly an eye-popping one that would lead you to believe it was on course to become the biggest movie in history. But this is where things get interesting and downright unprecedented. "Avatar" held like gangbusters in the weeks that followed, dropping a mere 1.8% in weekend two with a $75.6 million haul. To illustrate just how impressive the holds were, it was number one for its first eight weekends and didn't drop below $10 million until the first weekend of March. Like the Energizer Bunny of blockbuster films, it just kept going.

I can't emphasize enough how much this sort of thing just doesn't happen. Even good word of mouth only gets you so far. The combination of a must-see, big-screen experience, genuine buzz from moviegoers, and a lack of major competition created a perfect storm. Oh, and a downright unprecedented level of demand from international audiences. By the time "Avatar" finished its original theatrical run in August of 2010, it had earned a staggering $749.7 million domestically to go along with a silly $1.99 billion overseas for an eye-melting global total of $2.74 billion. Or, to put it another way, over $500 million more than the next-closest movie on the charts.

Avengers: Endgame (briefly) takes the throne

Given the downright insane level of demand, Fox re-released the movie a few times in the years that followed. For a long time, it seemed like nothing could possibly top "Avatar," and that it was destined to remain the #1 movie in box office history for the rest of time. Even "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which seemed like it had the best shot, finished its run with just over $2 billion. (Though that movie does hold the domestic record with a bonkers $936.6 million; we'll talk about that another time.)

However, the Marvel Cinematic Universe came calling in 2019 and, in the aftermath of "Avengers: Infinity War" taking in $2 billion in 2018 all while ending with a massive cliffhanger, Disney had a golden goose waiting in the wings. The follow-up, "Avengers: Endgame," saw levels of demand that remain unmatched to this day in many ways, with the Russo brothers' massive crossover taking in a gigantic $357.1 million in its domestic opening weekend. That set it up for a fairytale run, in which, it earned $858.3 million domestically and $1.93 billion internationally, for a record-breaking total of $2.79 billion. There was a new king in town.

Yet, in a bit of insane cinematic poetry, Cameron only lost the crown for a little over a year as "Avatar" got another re-release in China in 2021, in the aftermath of the pandemic when audiences were hungry to return to theaters. In China alone, the re-release earned $57.7 million. Coupled with a more robust, global re-release in early 2022, "Avatar" now sits pretty at $2.92 billion and is, once again, the unquestioned champion of the box office.

The lessons contained within

So, where does that leave us? What lessons can we take away from such a singular success story? Particularly in a modern version of the film industry, which is a bit of a shell of the former one that allowed "Avatar" to conquer the world the way that it did 13 years ago. Especially as Disney is now in control of the franchise and has a lot — something like $400 million — invested in "The Way of Water" (not to mention the three additional planned sequels they announced at once). As I see it, there is one very, very simple lesson to extract from this miraculous, logic-defying success story.

Don't ever bet against James Cameron.