Avatar: The Way of Water Beats Titanic To Become Third-Highest Grossing Movie of All Time

The James Cameron box office wars are raging on as Avatar: The Way of Water continues making money while Titanic has success with its 25th-anniversary rerelease. Earlier this month, Avatar: The Way of Water topped the Oscar-winning classic at the international box office, and now it’s managed to steal the third-place spot worldwide. 

According to Variety, the Avatar sequel has now made $2.2433 billion globally which beats Titanic‘s $2.2428 billion. Of course, this means Cameron has helmed the top-grossing film of all time (Avatar) as well as the third-highest (Avatar: The Way of Water) and fourth-highest (Titanic). The only thing standing in the director’s way from total box office domination is Joe and Anthony Russo’s Avengers: Endgame, which is currently the second-highest-grossing movie of all time with $2.7 billion.

It was unclear if Avatar: The Way of Water would manage to top Titanic thanks to the latter’s recent rerelease, which added $31,343,896 to the movie’s total. Currently, it doesn’t seem like the beloved film will earn back its spot, but it has been a tight race. 

Did Avatar: The Way of the Water Get Nominated For Any Oscars?

Cameron’s latest film was recently nominated for four Academy Awards. Avatar: The Way of the Water is up for Best Picture, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, and Best Production Design. The first Avatar film earned nine nominations back in 2010 and took home the prizes for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction. However, neither movie can match up to Titanic, which earned 14 nominations and 11 wins, including Best Picture and Best Director. 

For Best Picture this year, The Way of the Water is going up against Top Gun: Maverick, Everything Everywhere All of at Once, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, The Fabelmans, Tár, Triangle of Sadness, and Women Talking. For Visual Effects, the new Avatar is going up against All Quiet on the Western Front, The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Top Gun: Maverick.

How Did Kate Winslet Get Cast in Avatar: The Way of the Water?

The Avatar sequel marks Kate Winselt’s first time working with Cameron since Titanic. Recently, ComicBook.com‘s Brandon Davis had the chance to chat with Winset about reuniting with Cameron after all these years. 

“He just asked me and I think I admired the first Avatar. Loved it so much in the same way that we all did. And you know, Jim is an incredible writer of strong female roles and he was one of the first to be really doing that,” Winslet explained. “And when he described Ronal to me and said that she was the female, sort of goddess warrior leader of the water tribe, I just thought, I mean, to me, that’s proper sort of music to my ears. So, the idea of playing someone like that who was a leader in that way, the water element was very important to me. I love water. It’s a big part of my life, always has been, and to work with Jim and the other cast, I was just very excited.”

Avatar: The Way of the Water is still playing in theaters.