‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Passes ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ at Global Box Office

Disney/20th Century’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” is now the highest grossing film of the post-shutdown era with $1.92 billion at the global box office, passing “Spider-Man: No Way Home” for the No. 6 spot all-time before inflation adjustment.

The next big milestone for “Avatar 2” will be the $2 billion mark, which it is approximately $78 million away from reaching. When it hits, it will join the first “Avatar,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Titanic,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” on the list of films to reach that mark, with James Cameron being director of three of those films.

While “Avatar 2” had an advantage that “No Way Home” didn’t with a release in China, its overseas gross total has surpassed that of “No Way Home” even without the $217 million contributed by Chinese audiences. The sequel has passed $100 million in France and Germany and should soon pass that mark in South Korea, where it currently has grossed $93 million. Overall, “Avatar: The Way of Water” has grossed $574.4 million in North America and $1.35 billion internationally.

With a reported combined production and marketing budget of $460 million, “Avatar: The Way of Water” stands as one of the most expensive films of all time. But the runaway success of the sequel despite weaker than expected performance in China and Japan has secured the future of the franchise, with a third “Avatar” film set to come out in December 2024.