Avatar: The Way of Water's box office has now outgrossed Titanic in overseas markets. The film sees director James Cameron returning to the world of his 2009 hit Avatar. It follows Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaņa) as they fight to protect their family when the humans return to the isolated moon of Pandora on the warpath.

Per Variety, Avatar: The Way of Water's current overseas box office total of $1.538 billion has now surpassed Titanic to become the No. 3 film of all time in international markets. This news comes on the same day it was announced that the sequel had become the third highest-grossing IMAX film of all time. Although it has not yet surpassed Titanic's worldwide box office total, it only needs to make $20 million more to pass that milestone, something it should easily be able to do within the next week.

The Future of the Avatar Franchise is Bright


It's looking less likely that Avatar: The Way of Water will climb any higher than No. 3 on the worldwide chart. However, this is still a dazzling accomplishment, as it is now one of only six movies that have made over $2 billion worldwide. Although Cameron warned that the movie would have to become one of the biggest films of all time to earn its promised sequels, it has more than surpassed that margin.

This means that Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 are on track for their promised release dates of December 20, 2024 and December 18, 2026, respectively. The films will continue to explore the wondrous world of Pandora, including a tribe of fire Na'vi that will pose a threat in the next film. It has also been promised that Avatar 5 will explore the futuristic earth that Worthington's character has left behind.

It remains to be seen exactly how much Avatar: The Way of Water will be able to earn by the end of its box office run. While it will likely fall short of the original, meaning that the subsequent sequels will likely fall short of it, everything is relative. There is a bright future for the franchise that might see the next three Avatar films also joining the worldwide all-time Top 10.