James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has crossed the lifetime collection of Titanic —also directed by the Oscar-winning filmmaker — to become the third-highest-grossing film of all time.

According to Box Office Mojo, Avatar: The Way of Water has so far collected USD 2.248 billion worldwide since the film’s release on December 16, 2022. Titanic’s 25th anniversary re-release on February 10 took its lifetime collection to USD 2.244 billion, surpassing The Way of Water’s collection for a brief period. Only Avengers: Endgame (USD 2.7 billion) and Avatar (USD 2.9 billion) have earnings higher than the sci-fi epic.

The Way of Water has been climbing the charts since it hit the cinemas in December. It dethroned Tom Cruise-starrer Top Gun: Maverick (with a collection of USD 1.4 billion) as the highest-grossing movie of 2022 and later crossed Spiderman: No Way Home’s collections (USD 1.9 billion) to become the highest-grossing movie post-pandemic.

Thanks to the huge response to Titanic’s 25th anniversary special re-release, it managed to hold onto its position as the third-highest-grossing movie of all time. However, the Avatar sequel reclaimed the spot after raking in USD 6.1 million in the domestic market of US and Canada over the Presidents’ Day extended weekend.

Cameron now holds the distinction of being the only director with three films among the top four highest-grossing movies of all time.