'Avatar: The Way of Water' surpasses 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' at the box office at $1.92 billion
The James Cameron-directed film is on track to reach $2 billion in sales
IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond analyzes the opening weekend numbers for 'Avatar: The Way of Water' after some say the sequel failed to live up to Disney's box office hopes on 'The Claman Countdown.'
"Avatar: The Way of Water" has set another benchmark by overtaking "Spider-Man: No Way Home" at the box office as the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time with $1.92 in global revenue.
If the film continues at its current pace, it will likely surpass $2 billion in global ticket sales, making it the first post-pandemic movie to do so and director James Cameron's third film to reach that mark.
Currently, only five other films have made more revenue than "Way of Water": the original 2009 "Avatar," "Avengers: Endgame," "Titanic," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and "Avengers: Infinity War."
The vast majority of the revenue for "Way of Water" has come from the international markets, with $1.35 million in ticket sales. The movie has generated $217 million in China, $123 in France, $108 million in Germany, and $93 million in Korea.
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"Avatar: The Way of Water" has surpassed "Spider-man: No way Home" at the box office. (20th Century Studios via AP / AP Images)
In the domestic market in North America, "Way of Water" has made $574 million nearly six weeks after its initial release in theaters. Moreover, "Way of Water" is the 13th highest-grossing movie in North America, overtaking blockbusters such as "The Lion King," "The Dark Knight" and "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," according to Variety.
The film may eventually break into the top five highest-grossing films by surpassing "Infinity War," which stands at $2.04 billion at the box office.
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"Way of Water's" commercial success also helped make Disney the highest earner at the box office for the seventh consecutive year, with revenue of nearly $5 billion. Disney acquired the rights to the popular sci-fi franchise in 2019 after purchasing 20th Century Fox.