James Cameron's epic movie, Avatar: The Way of Water, has sailed past $1 billion in global ticket sales in just 14 days, becoming the fastest movie to cross the coveted box office milestone this year, reports Variety.  Only three films released in 2022 managed to surpass the billion-dollar mark. Apart from The Way of Water, the other two are Tom Cruise-starrer Top Gun: Maverick (which took 31 days to clear the benchmark) and the Chris Pratt-led Jurassic World Dominion (which took more than four months to join the club). Avatar The Way of Water Movie Review: James Cameron's Sci-Fi Sequel Is a Spectacular Visual Treat That Revels in Deep World-Building! (LatestLY Exclusive).

By comparison, according to Variety, nine movies released in 2019 surpassed $1 billion worldwide. The Way of Water is the fastest to hit the mark since 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, which took 12 days. Only six movies in history have cleared $1 billion in their first two weeks of release. James Cameron's long-delayed sequel to the 2009 Avatar, which remains the top grosser of all time with box office pickings totalling $2.97 billion worldwide -- has so far generated $317.1 million in North America and $712.7 million overseas, bringing its global tally to $1.025 billion. It has surpassed Jurassic World Dominion as the second highest-grossing movie of the year, and it's the third highest of the pandemic era, adds Variety. Avatar The Way of Water Box Office Day 13: James Cameron's Sci-Fi Sequel Passes $1 Billion Worldwide.

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Avatar 2 is expected to struggle to near the heights scaled by the original Avatar because the global box office hasn't fully rebounded from the pandemic, according to Variety. Moreover, China, a major theatrical market, is experiencing a resurgence of the coronavirus and Russia, another big territory, won't have access to the film as a result of Western sanctions.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 28, 2022 11:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).