never bet against james cameron

He’s the king of the world. 

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has officially grossed $2 billion at the global box office, becoming only the sixth film to ever achieve that milestone, not adjusted for inflation. This means Cameron is the only filmmaker in history to direct three movies that each grossed $2 billion or more globally.

Cameron’s first film to do so, of course, was 1997’s Titanic, which became the highest-grossing movie of all time during its original release and is still the third biggest with $2.1 billion. Cameron’s follow-up to Titanic was 2009’s Avatar, his second $2 billion film and the current highest-grossing movie of all time with $2.9 billion. 

The other movies to gross $2 billion are Avengers: Endgame ($2.7 billion), Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.07 billion), and Avengers: Infinity War ($2.05 billion). Anthony and Joe Russo, directors of Infinity War and Endgame, are the only other directors to helm more than one $2 billion film. But Cameron’s success with Avatar is arguably even more impressive given it’s an original franchise that he created himself. 

The $2 billion mark was yet another milestone for The Way of Water, which took more than a decade to come to fruition. The wait was so long, there were some who started to doubt the film would ever be finished, while others thought that even if it did come out, it was destined to be a box office disappointment. 

But while The Way of Water‘s initial debut came in under expectations, Cameron ended up proving the doubters wrong just as he did with Titanic and Avatar, both of which faced similar skepticism prior to release. The next time you’re thinking about betting against Cameron, you may want to reconsider.