Avatar Sequel Becomes World’s Sixth Biggest Film Ever Making $2 Billion Worldwide

The Avatar sequel has just passed the milestone that has been on everyone’s lips since its release. The James Cameron-directed film had to exceed $2 billion at the box office to be considered profitable, and it has just achieved that goal. What’s more, it has achieved it only six weeks after its release. This achievement is a milestone, making it the sixth film ever to reach this figure and the number one in the post-pandemic era. 

Avatar Sequel Becomes World’s Sixth Biggest Film Ever Making $2 Billion Worldwide

Image: 20th Century Studios

Behind the success of the Avatar sequel are several winners. The first of course, is James Cameron, its director. The filmmaker has just become the only filmmaker to surpass the $2 billion mark in grosses in three films. Another winner is Zoe Saldaña, the Dominican-born actress who has been in four of the six films that have surpassed this number. In addition to the Avatar sequel, Saldaña has appeared in Avengers: Endgame and Infinity War. We will see this excellent actress again in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. 

Director James Cameron stated that the Avatar sequel was a highly complex business case. The film would have to outperform the highest-grossing films in history simply to be profitable. Although it is not known for sure, some analysts put its break-even point at around $1.5 billion. Soon, The Way of Water will have surpassed films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avengers: Infinity War, the fourth and fifth highest-grossing films in history. 

So far, Avatar remains the highest-grossing film in history, with almost 3 billion grosses. It is followed by Avengers: Endgame with $2.79 billion and Titanic with $2.19 billion. It is essential to add that the Avatar sequel could surpass these numbers. The film has only been out for six weeks, it could still reach a much higher number. 

A Success Thanks to China Box Office and Despite Covid

Image: 20th Century Studios/Disney

As for the Avatar sequel’s box office breakdown, it has grossed 598 million domestically. On the other hand, it has grossed $1.39 billion at the international box office. This success is partly due to the fact that the film grossed $229 million in China. This Asian market is closed to many Marvel Studios productions for various reasons. However, the Avatar sequel overcame its censorship filters and increased its box office numbers thanks to this market. 

Another important point is that the Avatar sequel achieved these results in COVID times. Despite being able to access the Asian market, the area is in a delicate situation due to new outbreaks of the pandemic. It is important to put these figures into perspective, because the film would have grossed much more if this had not happened. 

It has been a long time since the release of the first part, Avatar, back in 2009. However, it seems that the journey of this franchise is not going to end with the Avatar sequel, The Way of Water. The director has already talked about a third, fourth and even fifth apart to his universe. So if these comments are true, we will have Avatar for a long time. 

Featured Image Via 20th Century Fox