Avatar: The Way Of Water Defeats The Avengers, Enters Top 10 All Time At The Domestic Box Office
"Avatar: The Way of Water" may have already decimated expectations, as well as any doubt that James Cameron is the greatest of all time when it comes to getting people in seats for blockbuster films, but that doesn't mean the filmmaker's latest is done conquering the world just yet — not by a long shot. To that end, the second entry in the sci-fi franchise has just entered the top 10 all-time at the domestic box office, and it dethroned another major blockbuster to get there.
According to Variety, "The Way of Water" now sits at $623.5 million domestically. That puts it just past 2012's mega-hit "The Avengers," which earned $623.4 million during its absolutely fantastic run a little more than a decade ago. That puts Cameron's latest at number ten on the domestic charts, just behind "Jurassic World" ($653.4 million). Just for reference, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" currently holds the #1 spot all-time as far as domestic box office goes, with a staggering $936.6 million. It figures to hold onto that record for a good, long while,
Worldwide though, "The Way of Water" is currently at number four, having recently passed "The Force Awakens" with $2.128 billion to date. The only movies above it are "Titanic" ($2.19 billion), "Avengers: Endgame" ($2.799 billion), and "Avatar" ($2.923 billion). Even with its allegedly massive budget, said to be as high as $450 million, it's safe to say that Disney is very happy with the results, and Cameron will be on the hook for at least "Avatar 3" and "Avatar 4."
No reason to cry for The Avengers
While it is pretty impressive to see a groundbreaking hit like "The Avengers" fall out of the top 10, nobody is crying any tears for Marvel Studios or Disney on this one. Really, it's all gravy for the House of Mouse as it is yet another one of their films knocking a previous hit from the studio down a peg. Even setting that aside, there is no denying that the 2012 blockbuster was both a gigantic hit and one that redefined the modern era of mainstreaming filmmaking entirely.
Rounding out Phase 1 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, "The Avengers" brought together a handful of heroes from disparate, solo film franchises for one mega-blockbuster. The whole "cinematic universe" thing is very common now, but it's easy to forget just how radical and uncertain it all seemed at the time. Yet, it worked like gangbusters, smashing records and earning $1.52 billion at the global box office. That, in turn, paved the way for everything that has happened in the MCU since, with $28 billion and counting worth of ticket sales to show for it.
But times change, moviegoing changes, and these records don't stand forever. The one constant? James Cameron is the unquestioned and unrivaled king of blockbuster filmmaking. Period.
"Avatar: The Way of Water" is in theaters now.