The film, which returned audiences to the visually stunning planet of Pandora, has brought in $1.03 billion in worldwide ticket sales, Walt Disney Studios said on Sunday.
“These movies consistently draw audiences to the movie theatre,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore head of marketplace trends, who noted that the visually stunning 3D films are “tailor-made” for watching in theatres.
The first film in the franchise, Avatar, which opened in 2009 and brought in $2.9 billion in ticket sales worldwide, became the highest-grossing movie ever in absolute dollars, according to Comscore, although it’s behind the 1939 classic Gone With the Wind if box office returns are adjusted for inflation and average ticket prices over the decades.
Thirteen years later, in 2022, Avatar: The Way of Water opened, grossed more than $2.3 billion globally and won an Oscar for best achievement in visual effects.
The latest instalment, released in time for the holiday season, racked up $306 million in the US and Canada, and $777.1 million internationally, Disney reported.
Cameron’s first billion-dollar blockbuster was Titanic, released in 1997, which has brought in nearly $2.3 billion worldwide.