20 Movies Way More Successful Than Anyone Expected

Avatar basically offered up the final word on anyone who ever had the gall to doubt James Cameron.

Despite the filmmaker's previous film Titanic breaking box office records following considerable pre-release skepticism, we all did the same song and dance for his 2009 sci-fi action film.

Many commentators doubted the ability for Cameron to deliver another smash hit due to the ambition of its CGI-heavy execution and also the apparently unappealing nature of the Na'vi, which some referred to as "blue cat people."

But of course Cameron did it again, and because delivering a box office success wasn't enough, he ended up surpassing even the monstrous performance of Titanic.

By the end of its original run, Avatar grossed an inconceivable $2.74 billion - almost a billion more than Titanic made on its initial release, in turn making it the highest-grossing film of all time.

Though it was unseated from the #1 spot by Avengers: Endgame in 2019, Avatar decisively reclaimed it two years later with a re-release to coincide with sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, which itself raked in an astonishing $2.32 billion.

It'll certainly be interesting to see if Cameron can deliver yet another $2 billion grosser with upcoming threequel Avatar: Fire and Ash, but even if not, it's clearly going to make a sizable return on its $250 million budget.