Avatar
Source: Walt Disney Studios
“Avatar” is once again the highest grossing movie of all time.
Over the weekend, James Cameron’s sci-fi epic was re-released in China, earning enough ticket sales to catch up on “Avengers: Endgame” for good measure.
“Avatar” first became the best-selling worldwide release of all time in 2010 when it took over Cameron’s “Titanic”. In 2019, “Avengers: Endgame” won the title with a cashier of $ 2.797 billion.
As of Saturday, “Avatar” gross box office surpassed $ 2,802 billion, allowing it to recoup its crown.
“These two titans of cinema have been dueling at the box office of Mount Olympus for years,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “As ‘Avatar’ wins the crown once again, the importance of the big screen experience both in terms of cultural impact and, of course, its immense revenue-generating power is brought into sharper focus.”
Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo took to social media to congratulate Cameron.
“Give the glove back to you,” they wrote in the post.
Originally part of the re-releases pre-approved by the Chinese film agency in 2020, the 2009 sci-fi epic remained in Disney’s vault during the ongoing pandemic.
While China has been able to regain some ticket sales in recent months, the introduction of new blockbuster features has slowed in the wake of the Chinese New Year celebrations. Adding “Avatar” to theaters is a way to boost attendance and give operators a much-needed boost at a time when new movies aren’t being released.
“We are proud to reach this great milestone, but Jim and I are very excited that the film is back in theaters at these unprecedented times, and we would like to thank our Chinese fans for their support,” said producer Jon Landau. “We are working hard on the next Avatar movies and look forward to sharing the continuation of this epic story for years to come.”
The first new movie in the Avatar franchise is scheduled for release in 2022. It will be one of five coming in the next decade. Disney only recently acquired “Avatar,” although the film had previously been licensed to build land in the Animal Kingdom theme park in Florida.
In 2019, Disney completed its deal to acquire 20th Century Fox entertainment assets, including James Cameron’s “Avatar.”
As it stands, Disney owns the top five highest-grossing movies of all time and eight of the top ten. Notably, “Titanic,” which is currently ranked third, was a joint production of Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. The other films include “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” the 2019 live-action remake of “The Lion King,” “Avengers,” and “Frozen II.”