Over the weekend it became official: Avengers: Endgame is the biggest film of all time when it comes to worldwide box office receipts. For a decade, Avatar has held the top spot with a tally of $2.789 billion – but the Marvel epic just reached $2.79 billion, edging ahead of James Cameron’s dazzling sci-fi (without inflation being taken into account). As is the custom, a major box office de-throning is greeted with a baton-passing message – and Cameron has just shared a post to congratulate Marvel on their impressive new record.
The message depicts Iron Man surrounded by Pandoran woodsprites, with the Na’vi translation of Avatar’s signature phrase “I see you” (that’s “oel ngati kameie” in the native tongue). “I see you Marvel,” Cameron writes. “Congratulations to Avengers: Endgame on becoming the new box-office king.” It’s the second congratulatory message Cameron has sent to Marvel since Endgame’s release, previously praising them for toppling Titanic in the #2 spot.
“To Kevin [Feige] and everybody at Marvel,” he wrote. “An iceberg sank the real Titanic. It took The Avengers to sink my Titanic. Everyone here at Lightstorm Entertainment salutes your amazing achievement. You’ve shown that the movie industry is not only alive and well, it’s bigger than ever!”
While it likely stings Cameron to concede both the #1 and #2 spot to Endgame, the filmmaker could well have the top spot back in his sights come December 2021, when Avatar 2 will finally hit the big screen. As much as some audiences are currently skeptical about returning to Pandora, the wisdom goes: never bet against James Cameron.