Avatar: The Way of Water has continued its box office domination, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of all time. The film, which premiered in theaters on December 16, is a decade-later sequel to James Cameron's original 2009 hit Avatar, which remains the highest-grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office. Although Avatar: The Way of Water opened lower than anticipated, it still had a significantly more robust opening weekend than the original film, which was the kickoff to a record-breaking run that led to it quickly passing $2 billion and just two days ago knocking Avengers: Infinity War from its perch as the No. 5 film of all time.

Per Deadline, Avatar: The Way of Water's box office streak is showing no signs of slowing down as it reaches a worldwide total of $2.075 billion today. This means it has now out-grossed Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens' 2015 gross of $2.071 billion, taking over its slot as the No. 4 highest-grossing movie of all time. This news comes just as the film prepares for another weekend at the box office, where it will most likely take No. 1 for the seventh time in a row thanks to a lack of new wide releases.

Avatar: The Way of Water Has Titanic In Its Sights Next


Considering how quickly Avatar: The Way of Water surpassed Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, it seems likely that the next domino to fall will be the all-time No. 3 film, Cameron's 1997 romantic epic Titanic. That film earned a total of $2.194 billion in theaters, meaning that Avatar: The Way of Water only has to earn an additional $119 million in order to trounce its record. This seems well within its ability as the film continues to rake in the cash worldwide, though it has slowed down somewhat on the domestic front, only turning in a total of $20.1 million last weekend.


After Titanic, there will be a significant pause before the world finds out if Avatar: The Way of Water's box office can break any further all-time records. The next-highest titles on the list are Avengers: Endgame, boasting a total of $2.799 billion, and Avatar itself with a formidable $2.923 billion. In order to climb any further on the chart, Avatar: The Way of Water will need to earn an additional $848 million, which is a much wider gap to close.

Avatar: The Way of Water has continued to power its way through theaters, so there is a high chance it can approach that number within the next month without breaking a sweat. However, it only has a few more weeks of uninterrupted time in theaters without major tentpole competition, because Marvel is releasing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in theaters on February 17. That film will steal a lot of attention and plenty of theater space, making it much harder for the Avatar sequel to make up lost ground after mid-February.