Marvel Studios Congratulates “Avatar” Team for Retaking Title of Highest-Grossing Film of All-Time

James Cameron’s Avatar has reclaimed the title of highest-grossing film of all-time, in terms of worldwide earnings, passing Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame. Marvel Studios congratulated Cameron and the rest of the creative team on the accomplishment.

  • Avatar was able to retake the top spot thanks to a surprise re-release in China this weekend.
  • Prior to the re-release, Endgame sat at $2.797 billion in worldwide box office gross with Avatar just behind it at $2.790 billion.
  • Avatar needed to earn just under $7.4 million to reclaim the top spot and while we don’t have this weekend’s exact numbers just yet, it would appear they have surpassed that goal.
  • During its initial release, Avatar earned $202.6 million in China and held the top spot for the country for four years, when it was surpassed by Stephen Chow's Journey to the West, which brought in $215 million in 2013.
  • The re-release of Avatar made the film available in both IMAX 3D and ordinary 3D.

More on the Avatar:

  • Cameron confirmed the long-rumored titles of the next four Avatar films are:
    • The Way of Water
    • The Seed Bearer
    • The Tulkun Rider
    • The Quest for Eywa
  • The first sequel was originally planned to hit theaters December 17, 2021, with the next three films following on the same weekend over the next few years. That changed with the most recent round of delays to the film release schedule:
    • Avatar 2 (was Dec. 17, 2021 now Dec. 16, 2022)
    • Avatar 3 (was Dec. 22, 2023 now Dec. 20, 2024)
    • Avatar 4 (was Dec. 19, 2025 now Dec. 18, 2026)
    • Avatar 5 (was Dec. 27, 2027 now Dec. 22, 2028)
  • Cameron and Fox announced the target releases of the sequels ahead of the opening of Pandora – the World of Avatar in Disney’s Animal Kingdom.