The 2023 Super Bowl isn’t the only game in town.
There’s also an interesting contest underway at the worldwide box office, where a 3D rerelease of 1997’sTitanic is going up against juggernaut Avatar: The Way of Water, both directed by James Cameron. For the filmmaker, it’s an embarrassment of riches.
Avatar: The Way of Water took in $25.3 million over the weekend to finish Sunday with a global cume of $2.214 billion. The 20th Century and Disney juggernaut is now only days away from overtaking Titanic, not adjusted for inflation.
The Way of Water would have achieved the milestone over Super Bowl weekend had it not been for the rerelease ofTitanic, which grossed a tidy $22.3 million globally to up its total cume to $2.217 billion. The remastered 3D version is timed to the movie’s 25th year anniversary, as well as to Valentine’s Day.
Prior to this weekend, Titanic‘s global gross stood at $2.194 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Now, it is only $30 million or so ahead of The Way of Water.
“In a breathtaking demonstration of the heft and breadth of James Cameron’s filmmaking career, this match-up, no matter the outcome, is a testament to the famed director’s impact on the zeitgeist in a multigenerational display of cinematic relevance and box office dominance,” says Comscore box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
Cameron lays claim to three of the four top-grossing movies of all time at the worldwide box office in an unprecedented feat, not adjusted for inflation. No. 1 is 2009’s Avatar ($2.92 billion), while Marvel and Disney’s Avengers: Endgame ($2.8 billion) is No. 2. Titanic momentarily remains No. 3, and The Way of Water is No. 4.
In North America, Magic Mike’s The Last Dance won Super Bowl weekend with a debut of $8.2 million, but The Way of Water and Titanic weren’t far behind, grossing $6.9 million and $6.4 million for domestic totals of $646.9 million and $665.7 million, respectively.
At the international box office, Avatar 2 collected another $18.9 million for a foreign tally of $1,567 billion. The Titanic release grossed $15.9 million to push the movie’s lifetime international earnings to $1.551 billion.
Paramount is distributing Titanic domestically, while Disney has overseas duties.
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