Some people are just born winners. When James Cameron announced that Avatar: The Way of Water would have to become one of the highest-grossing movies of all time to break even, several film fans and critics thought his aim was too lofty. With the original Avatar debuting in 2009, one of the major talking points surrounding the movie was how the gap between entries might hinder the sequel's potential box office. However, James Cameron seemingly shrugged off the concerns and pressed ahead with the film, which is now trouncing previous box office record holders left and right.
Now that Avatar: The Way of Water has officially earned $2 billion at the box office, Cameron has entered a prestigious group- that only includes him. Cameron is the only director in film history to have three films make $2 billion. Even though art is subjective, can we say that – at least from a financial perspective- Cameron is the king of the film world?
Reaching the $2 billion mark is a good sign for the Avatar franchise, which has three more installments slated for release over the next five years. It also meets the goal set by Cameron, who had previously said the film would need to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history just to break even.
"Keeping in line with Cameron's 'king of the box office world' career trajectory it should come as no surprise that the justification for completion of the director's vision for the world of Pandora is now undeniably assured and given the stamp of approval by enthusiastic fans around the globe," Dergarabedian said.
