Avatar 2 Has Defeated Star Wars
Avatar 2's $2.74 billion has officially surpassed Star Wars: The Force Awaken's $2.7 billion box office haul, making it the fourth highest-grossing movie.
James Cameron has another box office win to put on the board. According to Deadline, Avatar 2 is about to surpass Star Wars: The Last Jedi at the domestic box office. Going into Saturday morning, the Avatar sequel was sitting at $608.5 million and its projected $14-$16 million take for the weekend should easily push it past The Last Jedi’s $620.1 million.
Avatar 2 continues to rack up accolades. In addition to becoming the 11th-highest-grossing movie of all time in the U.S. and Canada after this weekend, it’s also the fourth-highest global release of all time. With $2.074 billion at the global box office, it’s sitting just over Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ $2.07 billion.
Avatar 2 still has some work to do if it’s going to enter the top three highest-grossing movies of all time, but James Cameron is sitting pretty either way. Right now, Cameron will have to surpass his own Titanic for Avatar: The Way of Water to crack the top three. Titanic is sitting at a worldwide gross of $2.19 billion, so it’s certainly possible.
If Avatar 2 manages to sink the Titanic, it’ll have to face off against the Avengers next. Avengers: Endgame is in second place with $2.799 billion, which would be a lofty number to surpass. Meanwhile, the first Avatar has $2.9 billion as number one.
Inevitably, big bucks like this mean that we’re going to see more Avatar movies in the future. The third film had already finished most of its filming by the time Avatar 2 was released, so there was really no questioning if we were going to get at least one more return to Pandora. However, Cameron said the fourth and fifth movies being made were dependent on the box office performance of Avatar: The Way of Water.
Clearly, the box office performance is more than meeting expectations. Not only is the film making a ton of money, but people like it too. In fact, even the Academy thinks Avatar 2 is a worthwhile trip back to October.
Unsurprisingly, Avatar 2 was nominated for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, and Best Production Design. The big shocker was the fact Avatar: The Way of Water was nominated for the big Best Picture award. Whether it wins the award or not (probably not) it’s definitely another big win for Cameron for the big-budget blockbuster to even snag a nomination.
Avatar 2 could easily take home the Best Visual Effects award and has a good chance for Best Sound and Best Production Design. As for Best Picture, it’ll have to overcome indie favorites like Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Banshees of Inisherin, and Tar. If it manages to pull out a Best Picture win, it would be pretty shocking.
If you have yet to see Avatar 2, there is plenty of time to check it out in theaters (and add to that box office total. The film follows Jake Sully and Neytiri as they move their family across Pandora when a familiar threat reemerged. It stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Jack Champion, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Britain Dalton, Jamie Flatters, Bailey Bass, and Chloe Coleman.
