James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water may not appear to be as widely discussed as it was in its first few weeks in theaters, but the epic film continues to make waves at the box office as its earnings grow. The film most recently beat Cameron’s last record-setting film, Titanic, albeit by a hair.
According to Variety, Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar sequel recently passed $2.2433 billion worldwide, just enough to beat Titanic’s global box office total of $2.2428 billion. The only blockbusters standing between The Way of Water and the top spot as highest-grossing film of all time are Avengers: Endgame in second place and 2009’s Avatar in first.
James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water Makes Its Mark
Avatar: The Way of Water has been notable for a number of reasons, including its rapid rise to the top. Beyond demonstrating continued enthusiasm from audiences for the long-dormant franchise, the film was also one of the few blockbusters to secure release in China — seemingly the first of many films produced by Disney and its subsidiaries — though its actual performance there has not been particularly noteworthy.
Avatar: The Way of Water is set over a decade after the events of the original film and sees the return of actor Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña as Jake Sulley and Neytiri, respectively. Other returning cast members include Stephen Lang as Colonel Quaritch and Sigourney Weaver, though not as Dr. Grace Augustine, but as Jake and Neytiri’s teenage daughter Kiri.
Cameron himself previously confirmed that the overwhelming success of the Avatar sequel had guaranteed the fourth and fifth instalments in the expanding franchise will enter production. A third entry is on its way, having been filmed back-to-back with The Way of Water. The title has not yet been revealed, but Cameron has revealed Avatar 3 will showcase a different side of the Na’vi, who, up until now, have been depicted as the saga’s unequivocal heroes. Cameron explained, “In the early films, there are very negative human examples and very positive Navi’s examples. In Avatar 3, we’ll do the reverse. We will also explore new universes while continuing the story of the main characters.”
Furthermore, Cameron confirmed Jake Sully will no longer serve as the narrator in Avatar 3. He will be replaced by his son, Lo’ak. “We have a different narrator for each of the subsequent films. We see it through the eyes of a different character and movie three is through Lo’ak’s eyes,” the filmmaker explained. It’s currently uncertain how large of a role Jake will play in future films or if he will feature in them at all.
