Avatar nears highest box office grosser spot as James Cameron film seeks to surpass Avengers: Endgame

After holding the record for the highest-grossing film of all time for 10 long years, James Cameron’s Avatar was dethroned by a small margin by Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Avengers: Endgame in 2019. But after 18 months, the sci-fi flick is likely to clinch its title back soon. Avatar re-released in China on Friday and has managed to rake up to $3.5 million already. Before the re-release, the 2009 American epic film had accumulated $2.7897 billion, which was closely surpassed by the superhero movie at $2.7902 billion. Since the gap is quite small, it is being expected that Avatar will be back to its top spot by the end of this weekend. After Avatar and Avengers, Titanic holds the spot of the third-highest grossing movie ever with $2.47 billion. It is followed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens at $2.068 billion and Avengers: Infinity War at $2.048 billion, making up the top 5 highest-grossing movies of all time. China has been witnessing an unprecedented box office record ever since the theatres were booming with audiences around the Lunar New Year holidays. Movies like Detective Chinatown 3 and Hi, Mom have brought in record-smashing ticket sales in the country. Not only there has been a surge in movie-goers but the numbers have soared to new heights. As per a report, Imax, which has over 700 halls in the country, had recorded its “strongest revenue weekend ever in China”. The surge of theatrical profits in China is also making other movie markets hopeful. The resurgence of interest around Avatar will be beneficial for the upcoming parts in the series too. As Deadline points out, Cameron has been working on the second instalment of the epic, set to release on 16 December, 2022. This will be followed by Avatar 3 on 20 December, 2024, part 4 on 18 December, 2026 and part 5 on 22 December, 2028.