James Cameron must be laughing in his edit room right now, only this time it’s gleeful chuckling over the continued success of Avatar, not that hysterical howling he must get when he realizes he still has years of Avatar movies yet to film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, James Cameron’s 2009 3-D sci-fi adventure film has been re-released in China, and, after earning $8 million at the box office on Saturday alone, has once again reclaimed its place as the highest-grossing film, not adjusted for inflation, at the global box office ever, reportedly earning a cumulative $2.8 billion over Avengers: Endgame’s comically close $2.797 billion.
Both Marvel and Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo congratulated Cameron on Twitter earlier today. “Passing the gauntlet back to you … @JimCameron,†the Russo brothers tweeted. Wrote Marvel Studios, “Congratulations to @JimCameron, @JonLandau, and ALL of Na’vi Nation for reclaiming the box office crown! We love you 3000.†Of course, all bets are off if Endgame ever ends up back in theaters. And let’s be honest: Given the chance once the pandemic is over, we’d see both back-to-back in theaters in a heartbeat. We’ll probably be sobbing in relief so hard, we can’t actually see the screen, but our ticket money still counts.