The phrase ‘never bet against James Cameron’ hasn’t come from nowhere – the filmmaker behind Aliens, The Terminator, Titanic and Avatar has a habit of breaking big at the box office. And while there’s been scepticism across the internet for the best part of a decade about his planned suite of big-blue-alien sequels, words are being eaten by the bowlful right now: it’s been clear for a while that belated follow-up Avatar: The Way Of Water is another Cameron smash, consistently pulling in significant audiences. Now, its Payakan-sized impact continues to ripple out, and another landmark has been reached: the film has officially crossed the $2 billion mark at the worldwide box office.
The Way Of Water is the sixth film ever to cross the $2 billion threshold – and of those six movies, Cameron is responsible for three of them (the others being Avatar, still the all-time #1 after reclaiming the title from Avengers: Endgame, and Titanic at #3). If The Way Of Water just keeps swimming in the same direction, the next films in its sights will be Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. And its success does look set to continue uninterrupted for a few more weeks yet – its next big competition will come from Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, which doesn’t hit screens until mid-February, giving Cameron’s latest a clear run in the major blockbuster stakes for almost another month. So far, The Way Of Water has earned over $597 million in the US, and over $1.42 billion internationally.
Will it leapfrog over those major Marvel and Star Wars entries? Can Cameron trouble his own Titanic? Will people finally stop claiming that nobody wants Avatar sequels? And will 2024’s Avatar 3 manage to be as successful? Stay tuned – but it bears repeating: never bet against James Cameron.