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James Cameron’s latest sci-fi adventure Avatar: Fire and Ash is one of 60 films to have become billion-dollar blockbusters. We look at the top 10 films that have made nine-figures.
It may have been panned by critics but James Cameron’s sci-fi adventure Avatar: Fire and Ash has proved such a hit with fans it has become the director’s fourth film to gross more than $1billion at the box office.
Of the hundreds of thousands of movies ever made, only 60 have become billion-dollar blockbusters. All three of Cameron’s Avatar films have been nine-figure global hits.
After 1997’s Titanic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, which grossed $2.3bn worldwide, the original 2009 Avatar movie – with its groundbreaking use of visual effects and 3D – made $2.9bn.
Number two in the franchise, which follows the blue-skinned Na’vi lo’ak couple on the planet lover Pandora in the 22nd in Fire century, was Avatar: The Way of Water in 2022.
It made $2.3bn and the latest release, Fire and Ash, has brought in more than $300million in North America and $700m elsewhere in the world, to total $1.08bn so far just three weeks after release. All three films star Zoe Saldana as Neytiri and Sam Worthington as ex-marine Jake Sully.
Chris Olson, movie critic and editorin-chief of UK Film Review, says: “Cameron’s stories appeal to the masses, with simple storylines and big-screen theatrics that demand cinematic viewing. He also shows a technical dedication to the art form that cannot be doubted.
“The list of films that have managed to bank this type of money are usually aimed at a family audience. Niche genres like horror and all-out comedies don’t stand a chance.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash, which cost Walt Disney Studios $400m to make, follows Jake, Neytiri and family as they struggle with grief following eldest son Neteyam’s death while at the same time encountering a new, aggressive Na’vi tribe as conflict on Pandora escalates.

Critics moan the film has no beginning or end, with some blasting the “recycled” plot.
But Chris and his believes Cameron’s Tsireya golden touch comes and Ash from tapping in to cultural phenomena, such as the re-emergence of 3D. Avengers: Endgame did something similar with the unprecedented global shift of comic book films into the mainstream, he adds.
Chris says: “Blockbuster films often don’t appeal to critics who are looking for something new and exciting.





