Avatar: The Way Of Water's Box-Office Aspirations Could Be Sailed Over By Titanic's Rerelease
"Avatar: The Way of Water" made a splash at the box office this weekend, but its wave isn't enough to sail past "Titanic"... yet.
This is certainly an interesting weekend at the box office for James Cameron. The maverick, water-obsessed director boasts two films in both the global and domestic top five: his long-awaited sequel to "Avatar" and the 3-D rerelease of "Titanic." What makes this showdown even more interesting is that "The Way of Water" and "Titanic" are currently duking it out to claim the number three spot of all time. Deadline confirms that "Titanic" is still the third highest-grossing film of all time, with a global cume of $2.217 billion worldwide. The 3D rerelease, meant to coincide with the film's 25th anniversary (and Valentine's Day) brought in $22.3 million worldwide this weekend.
"The Way of Water," meanwhile, isn't too far behind from the disaster drama's worldwide total. The sophomore outing to Pandora managed to catch an impressive $25.8 million worldwide during its ninth week, pushing its global total to $2.213.5 billion, making it the fourth highest-grossing film ever released. The second Sully clan feature is just $4 million away from knocking "Titanic" out of the top three. Essentially, Cameron is competing with himself for the third place at the global box office. "The Way of Water" will likely emerge as the winner by the end of its run as it continues to stand tall in international markets like France, Spain, and Korea.
It was a good weekend at the box office for water-focused movies
As it stands, James Cameron has three $2 billion-grossing films, making him the only director to achieve the milestone. What makes the director's saga even more compelling is how there doesn't seem to be an end to it. "Avatar: The Way of Water" is continuing its domination, still holding its own in the domestic top five, per Deadline's Sunday update.
Last week, the film slipped to third place, losing its number one spot thanks to M. Night Shyamalan's "Knock at the Cabin." This week, the "Avatar" sequel managed to crawl all the way up to number two with a $6.9 million showing. "Titanic," meanwhile, opened its rerelease as the weekend's third best performer, raking in $6.4 million over Super Bowl weekend. The number one spot at the box office belongs to the Channing Tatum-starring "Magic Mike's Last Dance." The threequel scooped up $8.2 million during its debut weekend. Warner Bros. opted to release the film in just 1,500 theaters, the lowest for any film in the top 10, making the start of its box office journey all the more interesting.
"80 for Brady" slipped to fourth place, bringing in $6 million during its sophomore weekend. Dreamworks' "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," which is now available on VOD, is still making a splash in cinemas, bringing in over $5.5 million during its eighth week. All eyes are currently on next weekend, which will see the release of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."
Will "The Way of Water" finally leave the weekend domestic top three thanks to the release of the "Ant-Man" threequel? Only time will tell.