Box Office Milestone: "Avatar 2" Passes $2 Billion Worldwide

'Avatar: The Way of Water/' COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS

James Cameron, the only director to have helmed three films that met the milestone, is celebrating a major victory thanks to the film's success.

The global box office success of Avatar: The Way of Water has surpassed the $2 billion barrier, which is a tremendous accomplishment for director James Cameron, who is the first director to have three films reach this milestone.

The big-budget sequel will end the weekend with a global total of $2.024 billion, according to Disney's announcement on Sunday. This will be the pandemic era's highest-grossing film. In addition to a sizable $230 million from China, it has made $598 million locally and $1.426 billion abroad.

The Way of Water is the sixth movie, not accounting for inflation, to surpass the $2 billion mark. The film may reach No. 4 on the list of all-time top-grossing films this week.

With $2.9 billion in worldwide ticket sales, including rereleases, the first Avatar, which debuted 13 years ago, continues to be the highest-grossing movie of all time. At $2.19 billion, Cameron's Titanic is also a member of the club.

Cameron predicted that The Way of Water would need to gross somewhere around $2 billion in order to be deemed a box office smash. Disney and 20th Century spent about $400 million on the sequel's production alone, not including marketing.

Since its release in mid-December, Cameron's movie has been a standout at the box office and has remained at the top of the chart.

With $2.79 billion in revenue, Avengers: Endgame comes in second place among the top global earners, only behind the original Avatar.