Avatar 2 becomes sixth movie ever to make over $2 billion at the box office

Before Avatar: The Way of Water released in theaters, there was a narrative popular in certain parts of the internet that held that no one cared about the Avatar franchise or remembered the first movie, and that the sequel would underperform.

Well, that sounds pretty stupid now, doesn’t it? Deadline reports that Avatar 2 has now taken in over $2 billion at the box office, becoming the sixth film in history to do so. Congratulations to director James Cameron, congratulations to Disney (ugh), and congratulations to the color blue.

And the movie very likely isn’t done with its climb. It’s within spitting distance of both Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, another couple of Disney joints. After that is Cameron’s own Titanic, which is a bit more remote, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Avatar 2 overtakes it eventually. Finally, there’s Avengers: Endgame and the first Avatar, which are the second and first highest grossing movies in history respectively. However this goes, before long James Cameron will still have made three of the top five highest grossing movies of all time.

James Cameron directed three of the five highest grossing movies in history

Avatar 2 has made about 40% of its money from the United States box office and the rest from other countries, with China contributing a hefty chunk: around $235 million. China has blocked a lot of Disney movies from opening in China over the last few years, particularly Marvel movies, so it wasn’t guaranteed that The Way of Water would play there. But it worked out. China is reopening its doors to Marvel movies as well. The Mouse is happy, so happy.

As for Avatar, Cameron is going full throttle on this thing. Avatar 3 is in post-production — we’ll see it around Christmas of next year — and two more sequels are in the works. Get ready for a blue wave.

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