If you're a movie buff, you might know who James Cameron. He's the brains who's behind a handful of top-grossing movies of the years 1997, 2009, and now, 2022.
The follow-up to 2009's Avatar, which is the highest-grossing movie of all time, managed to claim the title despite a slow start. Three weeks was all Avatar: The Way of Water needed as it officially racked up $1.5 billion worldwide on January 4. In doing so, Avatar 2 became last year's highest-grossing film. This number just cleared Maverick's $1.489 billion, which had a little over seven months to gain the advantage. The sequel not being screened in Russian cinemas certainly hampered their numbers, considering the original Avatar netted over $120 million in that market.
Domestically in the United States, the numbers paint a different story. Top Gun: Maverick is still at the top with $718 million generated in domestic cinemas. As of Wednesday, Avatar: The Way of Water sits in second place with just $454 million. To put this in perspective, the $260 million difference in revenue generated is how much The Amazing Spider-Man racked up. And that's mostly due to the fact that Avatar has never been just a domestic franchise.
