Fourth film to reach $1 billion after the COVID-19

The Way of Water marks an impressive feat for Cameron by not only reestablishing the franchise’s popularity, but also by becoming the fourth film to reach $1 billion after the COVID-19 pandemic affected moviegoing back in 2020.

Avatar: The Way of Water has maintained its position as the highest grossing film at the box office for its fourth week in a row. The sequel to James Cameron’s 2009 film was released on December 16th, allowing audiences to return to the world of Pandora. The story follows Jake Sully and his family as they are forced to leave their home and seek refuge with the Metkayina clan due to the return of the RDA. Despite debuting below initial projections, Avatar: The Way of Water has become the highest grossing film of 2022 internationally, surpassing Top Gun: Maverick at the box office and earning $1.708 billion globally, making it the seventh highest grossing film of all time. The film has also become the fourth to reach $1 billion after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the movie industry in 2020. If it continues to be screened in theaters and outperform other box office competition, it could potentially reach over $2 billion globally. The first Avatar film set multiple records, earning over $2.9 billion during its initial release and re-releases, making it the highest grossing film of all time. It will be interesting to see how close the second film comes to that number. The success of Avatar: The Way of Water over the holidays, with a 6% increase in its third week, has led to speculation about its potential earnings and a possible longer theatrical run. The next highly anticipated film, Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is set to be released in February. Avatar: The Way of Water is one of the year’s biggest films and can currently be seen in theaters.