James Cameron Congratulates Avengers: Endgame on Passing Avatar for All Time Box Office Record
Over the weekend it became official: Avengers: Endgame is now the highest grossing movie of all [...]
Over the weekend it became official: Avengers: Endgame is now the highest grossing movie of all time at the global box office. After a strong debut run in 2009, followed by multiple rereleases over the following year, Avatar had a seemingly unbeatable record. The James Cameron film ended its run with $2,789,700,000, passing Cameron's original all-time record movie, Titanic. Now that Endgame has taken down the champ, Cameron has taken to social media to offer his congratulations.
On Monday morning, a message from Cameron was posted to the Avatar franchise social media accounts, straight from the creator of the series himself.
"Oel Ngati Kamele, I see you Marvel," the message begins. "Congratulations to Avengers: Endgame on being the new box office king. - Jim Cameron"
Congratulations, @MarvelStudios! pic.twitter.com/DWZDX0uDVi
— Avatar (@officialavatar) July 22, 2019
The message was printed on top of an image merging the two franchises. Iron Man can be seen in the picture surrounded by the woodsprites of Pandora, just like in the popular scene from Avatar.
If you weren't aware, "Oel ngatie kamele" is a popular phrase in the native language of the Na'vi people, the main race featured in Avatar. It simply means, "I See You," and Cameron is using it to acknowledge the success of his competition.
As it stands now, Endgame is the highest grossing film of all time, but Cameron directed the second and third movies on the list: Avatar and Titanic. Five of the top ten highest grossing movies are from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel's The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Black Panther following Endgame.
The only three movies in the worldwide top ten that aren't part of the MCU and weren't directed by Cameron are Star Wars: The Force Awakens (which still holds the all-time domestic record), Jurassic World, and Furious 7.
It's hard to say how long Endgame's record could possibly hold. Cameron is hoping for not too long, as he has the first sequel to Avatar on the way. There's also a slight chance Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker could provide some competition this December, given that it's the very last film in the main Skywalker Saga.
Are you glad to see Avengers: Endgame finally beat Avatar? Do you think the new record will ever be broken? Let us know in the comments!