Avatar: Fire and Ashwill ensure that a James Cameron box office record becomes even more impressive. FromTitanictoAvatar,James Cameron’s moviesare known for dominating at the box office. As thefirst movie to make more than $1 billionworldwide,Titanicbecame the highest-grossing movie of all time, and held onto this impressive record for 12 years. It was not dethroned until Cameron’s firstAvatarmovie was released, and the visually stunning science-fiction epic still holds the top spot 16 years later.
Given the 13-year wait forAvatar: The Way of Water, it was unclear if the sequel would perform as well.The franchise proved that it was still lucrative asThe Way of Watermade more than $2 billion worldwideand surpassedTitanicto become the third highest-grossing movie of all time, withAvengers: Endgameand the firstAvatarbeing the only titles ahead of it. AsAvatar: Fire and Ash’s release datedraws closer, it is expected to be another massive box office hit, and will continue to give Cameron a record-breaking distinction.
James Cameron Has The Highest Average Gross For A Director By A Large Margin
His Average Is Close To $1 Billion Per Movie
Original analysis shared onRedditshows that Cameron has the highest average box office gross of any director. Based on the nine movies he has directed and his total earnings of $8.76 billion,Cameron’s average gross per movie is $970 million.Titanic,Avatar, andAvatar: The Way of Waterare the movies most responsible for this unparalleled average, although the earnings ofThe Terminator,Terminator 2: Judgment Day,Aliens, andTrue Lieshelp as well.
$10.8 billion
35
$308 million
$8.76 billion
9
$970 million
$6.79 billion
$754 million
$6.62 billion
14
$472 million
$6.5 billion
15
$433 million
$6.33 billion
10
$633 million
$6.14 billion
12
$512 million
$4.87 billion
20
$243 million
$4.67 billion
29
$161 million
$4.66 million
6
$776 million
Steven Spielberg has the all-time highest total box office gross at $10.8 billion, but his $308 million average is significantly lower since he has directed 35 movies throughout his legendary career. Of those included in the analysis, J.J. Abrams has the highest average gross after Cameron, with $776 million across six movies. Joe and Anthony Russo are not far behind Abrams with a $754 average across the nine movies they have directed as of November 2024, which is helped byAvengers: EndgameandAvengers: Infinity Warbeing among the top 10 highest-grossing movies of all time.
James Cameron’s Box Office Numbers Will Get Even More Impressive After Avatar 3
Fire And Ash Will Put Cameron In A Class Of His Own
While it remains to be seen if theAvatarfranchise’s $2 billion streakcan continue withFire and Ash, the third installment is poised to do incredibly well, and to make Cameron’s box office numbers even more impressive.Fire and Ashwill definitely allow Cameron’s all-time box office total to cross the $9 billion threshold. If the sequel makes more than $1 billion, which seems likely given that its predecessors both made more than $2 billion, Cameron’s total will exceed the $10 billion mark as well.
The Avatar Franchise Holds 3 Seemingly Unbreakable Box Office Milestone Records & It’s Guaranteed To Make More
Avatar: The Way of Water helped the Avatar franchise cement some big box office records, and it is unlikely that another series will ever pass it.
UnlessFire and Ashbecomes a box office flop, which would be shocking given the precedent set by the previous movies, Cameron’s average gross should benefit greatly from the sequel. With it only being the tenth movie he has directed, he will still have a lower number of total movies compared to the other top-earning directors, which helps his average.The gap in the average gross between Cameron and his competition will continue to widen, withFire and Ashpotentially even pushing his average to $1 billion and beyond.
Avatar 3 Could Make James Cameron The Highest-Grossing Director Of All Time
Steven Spielberg May Lose The Top Spot
IfAvatar: Fire and Ashcontinues the franchise’s $2 billion streak, this will get Cameron close to reaching Spielberg’s all-time total of $10.8 billion, and he may even surpass it to become the highest-grossing director. Spielberg is currently working on an untitled science-fiction movie reportedly starring Josh O’Connor, Emily Blunt, Wyatt Russell, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth, and Eve Hewson, but it is not scheduled to be released in theaters on July 01, 2025. Meanwhile,Fire and Ash’s theatrical debut is June 15, 2025, whichgives Cameron time to pass Spielberg before his sci-fi film releases.
The screenplay for Spielberg’s upcoming sci-fi movie comes fromJurassic Parkscreenwriter David Koepp.
With the Russo brothers directingAvengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Wars, their all-time box office totals are also expected to increase significantly, even if the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies do not reach the same heights asAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgame. That being said,Avengers: Doomsday’s releaseis not until Jun 30, 2025. At this point, Cameron may already be the highest-grossing director of all time afterFire and Ash’s theatrical run, and there will be even more distance between his numbers and those of the Russo brothers.
Avatar’s Remaining Movies Will Likely Put Cameron Far Above Other Directors
Avatar 4 & 5 Will Further Solidify James Cameron’s Box Office Dominance
IfFire and Ashdoes not put Cameron far above all other directors, thenAvatar 4andAvatar 5probably will. With justFire and Ash, it may be a close call on whether he can pass Spielberg, and Spielberg can get back on top after his sci-fi movie releases in 2026. Spielberg is unlikely to remain there, though, as theAvatarsequels continue to come out.Avatar 4is currently scheduled for July 03, 2025, whileAvatar 5is slated for June 09, 2025, with these release dates all but guaranteeing Cameron’s box office domination in the coming years.
As the third highest-grossing movie of all time,The Way of Waterdid not suffer from the release changes, and it seems unlikely thatFire and Ash,Avatar 4, orAvatar 5will suffer from any potential schedule changes either.
The release dates forAvatar 4andAvatar 5may change, but this should not have any adverse effect on the franchise’s box office numbers.Avatar: The Way of Water’s release dates changed numerous times, with the sequel at one point being scheduled as early as 2014 before ultimately coming out in December 2022. As the third highest-grossing movie of all time,The Way of Waterdid not suffer from the release changes, and it seems unlikely thatFire and Ash,Avatar 4, orAvatar 5will suffer from any potential schedule changes either.
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AfterAvatar 5,it will be difficult for any director to come anywhere near Cameron’s average or total box office gross. This will also not be the end of his directing career, asCameron’s next movie afterAvatar 5will beLast Train from Hiroshima, based on real eyewitness accounts from World War II, which he has already spoken about before. Cameron already has the highest average box office gross for a director by a significant margin andAvatar: Fire and Ashand its sequels are poised to make him the highest-grossing director of all time.
