Does Avatar 2 have what it takes to become #1?

Over the weekend, Avatar: The Way of Water passed Star Wars: The Force Awakens to become the fourth highest-grossing movie in history. The James Cameron-directed film has now brought in $2.117 billion at the global box office.

But does it have what it takes to be #1?

The Way of Water is currently ~$78 million away from Titanic, the #3 film on the list. Which if it keeps up – or even slows – its current pace, could be reached within a week. Over the past eight days, Avatar 2 has brought in an estimated $117 million at the global box office.

Though to reach the top-two highest-grossing films of all time, The Way of Water needs – as Bob Uecker would say – juuuuuuust a bit more. The original Avatar ($2.9 billion) and Avengers: Endgame ($2.8 billion) hold the top two spots on the list.

• One thing not in A2's favor: its exclusive theatrical window could be ending soon. Disney announced in Sept. 2021 that its remaining films would have a minimum 45-day exclusive theatrical release. If Way of Water follows that arrangement, it would hit Disney+ on Jan. 30 (today), which would take some steam out of ticket sales.

🍿 Bottom line: Regardless of where the box office actually ends up, Disney is already like the main character in all of its movies: coming out on top. Industry sources say the film needed to earn $1.5 billion to break even, while Cameron – who at this point should change his name to Tom Cruise after making an impossible mission look easy – previously said it would need to “be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history” to turn a profit.

+Fun fact: James Cameron has now directed three of the top four highest-grossing movies ever. And Zoe Saldana has acted in four out of the top six.