‘Avatar’ Sequel Versus ‘Titanic’ For No.3 All-Time Best Box Office

The tremendous theatrical run of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water is a tale of crossing one historic threshold after another. The next — and apparently final — hurdle for the sci-fi blockbuster sequel is versus Cameron’s own Titanic for the #3 all-time best box office in history. However, that’s a battle that will be more complicated than it looks.

Avatar: The Way of Water needs somewhere around $70+/- million (depending on Monday’s and Tuesday’s international box office numbers) to pass Titanic, and it has until February 10th to do it. After that, Titanic will return to theaters for its 25th anniversary remastered 4K HDR 3D re-release. That re-release includes taking some premium screens away from Avatar 2, and will likely result in a new tidal wave of viewership for the historic drama.

With just over a week to accomplish the task, it’s unclear whether Avatar: The Way of Water has enough juice left in its tanks to overtake Titanic before that film sets sail again and potentially gets enough of a head start to remain out of reach.

Or perhaps I should say “out of reach for now.” Because there’s little doubt we’ll see a re-release of Avatar: The Way of Water — perhaps (probably?) later this year with new footage nobody’s seen before, and again next year ahead of the Christmas 2024 release of Avatar 3.

So while I suspect The Way of Water will finish its current first theatrical run slightly behind Titanic’s boosted cume after February’s re-rerelease, I also think Avatar: The Way of Water will eventually catch up and pass Titanic on the all-time box office charts, once Avatar 2 gets its own re-releases over the next couple of years.

For Cameron, there’s value in his new film performing so well that it would’ve passed Titanic if not for the latter’s re-release this year, but then eventually passing it and setting up a contest to see if Avatar 3 will make its own run at topping Titanic. It keeps Cameron relevant and constantly in the news and at the box office; it demonstrates that after all of these decades, he can still top himself and create historically successful and acclaimed films; it proves that while he’s topping himself with new pictures, his older movies can still also prove their sustained relevance and popularity even against new modern releases; and of course, it gives him bragging rights as the only filmmaker to have three of the top four films and (all but certainly, after Avatar 3) four of the top five films in box office history.

The fact Titanic is re-releasing in 3D means it will enjoy premium ticket prices to help elevate its box office returns, and as noted that also means it will be taking up some of those screens from other films, including Avatar: The Way of Water. Plus, we’re reaching the tail end of The Way of Water’s theatrical momentum in most markets, so weekly decline percentages will increase and it will give up more and more theater space to newcomers like Knock at the Cabin, Titanic, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, while Titanic starts adding to its own numbers.

That combination of factors leads me to believe Titanic might get enough of a head start to prevent Avatar: The Way of Water from lapping it. We could also wind up seeing the Avatar sequel pass Titanic for a brief period, followed by Titanic holding strong enough to once again regain the lead as The Way of Water’s own box office declines again.

Titanic is a film that holds up perfectly after 25 years — this re-release could actually be its first release as a brand new film, and you wouldn’t have to change anything. The storytelling, visual scale and ambition, the VFX, the acting and score, and everything about it feels as timeless and as relevant to cinema as it did the day it released back in 1997.

So I wonder if a lot of younger audiences who have simply never seen it before will venture out and catch it at cineplexes, and create a whole new modern rush to see it again. I encourage you to see it if you’ve not seen it yet, especially if you’re a younger person who never watched it or perhaps only saw parts of it on TV — although I do beg you to wear an N95 mask and avoid eating or drinking during the screening unless you use a straw under your mask. There are few films that truly reward seeing them large-scale and in a premium settings, but Titanic is definitely one of them. Don’t believe the reactionary negativity or resentments toward the film, it really is spectacular.

The same is, of course, also true of Avatar: The Way of Water, as I said in my review and still believe. So hopefully some theaters will have double features of both films at a discounted ticket price and with an intermission for food breaks in between.

Why not even a triple feature of Titanic, Avatar, and Avatar: The Way of Water? Charge $30 for an all-day screening event with breaks for lunch and dinner between the films, and I’m there (albeit wearing double N95 masks, eating and drinking outside, and avoiding sitting in the middle of the theater). The point is, these are films of such scope and spectacle and visceral experience that it would be terrific to be able to watch them all on the best screens with the best visuals and audio possible — for me, that’s Dolby Cinema, as well as full-sized IMAX.

Be sure to check back here soon, dear readers, for more updates on the phenomenal box office run of Avatar: The Way of Water, Titanic’s re-release, and other reviews, movie updates, and box office news. And remember, if you head out to your local theaters this weekend, please don’t forget to mask up — we are still in a pandemic with a new easily transmitted variant circulating, and your mask not only protects you but also anyone with a compromised immune system or who is otherwise at higher risk of severe illness or death from Covid.