Avengers: Endgame Outranked Avatar, But James Cameron Is Cool With It

Avengers: Endgame recently overtook James Cameron's Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time.

Three months after its release, Avengers: Endgame raked in more money than the previous record-breaker, Avatar. Disney and Marvel announced the film's success during San Diego's Comic-Con on July 20th. Many fans saw this coming--after all, Avengers made $1.223 billion on its opening weekend, half of Avatar's $2.788 billion record. The recent Avengers film made $2.781 billion: the new world record.

James Cameron didn't seem bitter about the new record-holder at all. He even went to Twitter to congratulate Marvel Studios. On Avatar's official account, Cameron posted a photo of Iron Man surrounded by woodsprites, with the caption oel ngati kameie. Serious Avatar fans know that this means "I see you."

The full message read: "I see you, Marvel. Congratulations to Avengers Endgame on becoming the new box-office king. - Jim Cameron."

Cameron's congratulations are standard in Hollywood. Since the 1970s, it's been traditional for the former movie giants to applaud their competitors by creating cross-over posters. According to Business Insider, the tradition began when Steven Spielberg honored Star Wars by creating a poster with his previous highest-grossed film, Jaws.

James Cameron has also congratulated Marvel before. Earlier this year, he posted a crossover poster applauding Avengers for "sinking" Titanic. In 2018, the Star Wars official account praised Avengers: Infinity War for creating the biggest opening weekend in history through a crossover poster.

Avatar held the trophy for ten years. It's safe to say that Avengers: Endgame will remain the world's highest-grossing film for a long time as well.