James Cameron Salutes ‘Avengers: Endgame’ For Beating ‘Avatar’s’ Box Office Record

Rebecca Rubin

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Director James Cameron may no longer be the reigning box office champion, but at least he’s gracious about passing the baton.

Over the weekend, “Avengers: Endgame” officially dethroned “Avatar” to become the biggest movie in history. For a decade, Cameron’s dazzling sci-fi epic held the top spot with $2.7897 billion in global ticket sales, but Disney and Marvel’s superhero mashup inched by with $2.7902 billion to claim the throne.

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“Oel natie kameie, I see you Marvel,” Cameron wrote Monday morning on Twitter along with an image of Iron-Man surrounded by Pandoran woodsprite seeds. “Congratulations to ‘Avengers: Endgame’ on becoming the new box-office king.”

Anthony and Joe Russo, who directed “Avengers: Endgame,” sited Cameron as a major inspiration.

“You’re a monumental reason why we fell in love with film in the first place,” the brothers tweeted on Monday. “Thank you for always inspiring us and opening the world’s eyes to what’s possible. We can’t wait to see where you take us next…”

Earlier this year, Cameron saluted “Endgame” for surpassing “Titanic” as the second-biggest movie of all time. “An iceberg sank the real Titanic. It took the Avengers to sink my Titanic,” he joked.

“Avengers: Endgame” set numerous box office benchmarks since launching in April. It holds the record for the biggest opening weekend globally ($1.2 billion), domestically ($357 million) and internationally ($866 million). The superhero tentpole’s North American tally currently sits at $853 million, along with $1.9 billion overseas.

Only time will tell if one of Cameron’s four “Avatar” sequels will be able to best “Avengers: Endgame.” The first follow-up is set to hit theaters Dec. 17, 2021.

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