With three more movies to go, Avatar is likely to surpass 10 more film franchises at the box office before the end of the James Cameron series. Avatar already boasts two of the three highest-grossing films of all time, including the original 2009 movie at the number one spot with $2.9 billion and the 2022 sequel Avatar: The Way of Water in third place with $2.3 billion and climbing. Therefore, the Avatar franchise has a running accumulated gross of $5.2 billion, making it the 13th-highest-grossing film series of all time, which is all the more impressive given it only includes two projects so far.
However, with Avatar 3, 4, and 5 already on Disney’s upcoming release slate, the James Cameron franchise’s box office is set to outearn several hit film series at the end of its theatrical run. If each upcoming movie earns around $2 billion, then the Avatar franchise's box office total would be more than $11 billion, thus realistically making it the third-highest-grossing film series of all time behind Spider-Man ($9.8 billion and counting) and the MCU ($28.7 billion and counting). In order to earn this title, James Cameron’s Avatar will have to surpass the box office totals of 10 movie franchises, which include massive superhero film series and beloved sci-fi stories.
10 Middle-Earth
The next property that Avatar can reasonably surpass with the arrival of Avatar 3 is the Middle-earth franchise, which consists of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. The Middle-earth franchise includes six films, with the box office of the beloved movies ranging from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’s $891 million worldwide gross to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’s $1.12 billion box office earnings. Altogether, the film series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s works have amassed a total of $5.85 billion at the box office.
Since the Avatar franchise’s total is already at $5.2 billion, James Cameron’s movies could surpass Jackson’s with a theatrical re-release of Avatar (2009) or Avatar 2 (2022). Otherwise, the Lord of the Rings franchise’s box office is almost guaranteed to be passed after the time Avatar 3 hits theaters in December 2024. While Warner Bros. announced new Lord of the Rings franchise movies are forthcoming, this property isn’t likely to beat the total of Avatar’s box office numbers again.
9 Jurassic Park
The Avatar film series can also still beat the box office total of the Jurassic Park franchise. Since debuting in 1993, the six Jurassic Park movies have accumulated a total box office gross of $6.01 billion. The highest-grossing movie in the Jurassic Park franchise is Jurassic World (2015) with $1.67 billion, while the last installment in the series, Jurassic World Dominion (2022), added another $1 billion to the total.
Avatar only needs approximately $800 million to surpass Jurassic Park, which can reasonably be accomplished with the presumably high box office earnings of 2024’s Avatar 3. Although Jurassic World Dominion was promoted as the last movie in the Jurassic Park series, this isn’t likely, so the franchise’s box office will likely grow beyond its current $6.01 billion. However, it’s unlikely to catch up to Avatar’s running box office total once Avatar 3 helps launch it past the dinosaur franchise.
8 X-Men
X-Men stands as the 10th-highest-grossing film series of all time, though it’s expected to be bumped down after the arrival of Avatar 3 in 2024. After 13 movies, the X-Men franchise has an accumulated box office gross of $6.07 billion. The franchise’s total is thus about $60 million greater than Jurassic Park, meaning Avatar 3 is likely to sweep past both film series early into its theatrical run. If Avatar 3 earns at least $800 million, the Avatar franchise will have beaten the X-Men series after only three projects. Even if the upcoming Deadpool movie breaks $1 billion at the box office, the X-Men films can’t catch up with Avatar’s momentum.
7 DCU
Starting with Man of Steel (2013), Warner Bros.’ DCU (formerly the DCEU) has featured 12 films released in theaters, with several more like The Flash still on the way. The superhero franchise based on DC Comics characters has accumulated a total of $6.20 billion at the box office and counting. Still, with Avatar already at $5.2 billion after only two movies, James Cameron’s movie series is expected to pass the DCU after the release of Avatar 3.
Although the DCU's upcoming release schedule includes more movies than Avatar, the latter franchise averages far more money per movie. As such, should James Cameron add another $6 billion to Avatar’s total by the time 2028’s Avatar 5 leaves theaters, its $11 billion accumulation is still situated to beat the DCU. The DCU would have to double its total box office earnings in the next five years in order to beat Avatar, which isn’t likely to happen unless Warner Bros. leads another series with the same box office impact as Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.
6 Fast & Furious
Since the first film debuted in 2001, Universal’s Fast and the Furious franchise has grossed over $6.61 billion at the box office. Including the Hobbs & Shaw spinoff, the franchise has grown to include 10 movies, with Fast X and another sequel still on the way. Fast X could reasonably surpass the $1 billion mark at the 2023 box office, which means the film series’ box office total may add up to $7.6 billion by the time Avatar 3 arrives in 2024.
If each subsequent Avatar movie earns around $2 billion at the box office, then the James Cameron film series could beat the Fast and the Furious franchise’s box office with 2026’s Avatar 4. It’s unclear if the final Fast and the Furious movie after Fast X will later be able to bring the franchise total past Avatar, as the Disney movies’ box office could reach over $9.5 billion after Avatar 4. By the time Cameron's Avatar 5 leaves theaters, the franchise’s potential to accumulate over $11 billion total means the Fast and the Furious series will have an extremely difficult time catching up.
5 Batman
The Avatar franchise can also beat the box office total of the Batman franchise, which includes 12 theatrically released films starring Batman or spinoff characters like the Joker. Batman movies have grossed over $6.8 billion at the box office since Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), with the upcoming films The Batman: Part II and Joker: Folie á Deux set to bring this total even higher. Joker’s sequel will be released in October 2024, which could bring in another $1 billion if it follows in the footsteps of its predecessor. As such, the Batman franchise could have a slight lead over Avatar in early 2025, as Avatar 3 may not bring the box office total past $7.5 billion.
However, the arrival of the upcoming movie Avatar 4 in December 2026 is apt to be what brings the James Cameron franchise ahead of the Batman movies’ box office total. While The Batman’s October 2025 sequel could bring the franchise to a box office total of approximately $9 billion, the Avatar franchise is expected to surpass this number by the time Avatar 4 leaves theaters. Even if more Batman films arrive in the DCU between 2026 and 2028, the Caped Crusader franchise isn’t apt to beat Avatar again once Avatar 5 is released.
4 Avengers
While there’s no way that Avatar can catch up to the greater MCU’s box office total, the former can still beat the box office total of the Avengers franchise. The Avengers films have a box office accumulation of $7.75 billion, which makes up a significant portion of the MCU’s total gross. While Avatar could come close to this number after the release of Avatar 3, the Avengers franchise’s box office will increase shortly after with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2025 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2026.
Since Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War both earned over $2 billion, it’s possible that the upcoming sequels could bring the franchise’s total to $11.7 billion. However, the MCU’s box office hasn’t been as strong in 2022 and 2023 as it was when Endgame arrived, suggesting the upcoming Avengers movies may not break $2 billion. If both films do earn more than $2 billion, then the Avatar franchise’s box office could sit behind Avengers. But, if they don’t manage to reach that benchmark, then Avatar 5 could help the franchise beat the Avengers with a potential box office accumulation of over $11 billion.
3 James Bond
The James Bond franchise has grown to include 27 movies since 1962’s Dr. No, so its massive box office total of $7.88 billion isn’t surprising. James Bond currently has no upcoming movies scheduled, which makes the chances of the Avatar franchise beating its box office more likely. While Avatar 3 could still potentially bring the franchise past this number if it earns over $2.5 billion, it’s almost guaranteed that Avatar 4 will allow James Cameron’s movies to beat the box office total of the James Bond movies.
2 Wizarding World
Including the eight original Harry Potter movies and the Fantastic Beasts series, the Wizarding World franchise has an accumulated box office total of $9.59 billion. If each Avatar sequel movie earns over $2 billion at the box office, then the Disney franchise can beat the Harry Potter film series’ total after the theatrical run of Avatar 4 concludes. Since Warner Bros. has yet to schedule any upcoming films in the Wizarding World franchise, the Avatar movies are expected to maintain a higher box office total.
1 Star Wars
Star Wars remains the second-highest-grossing franchise of all-time behind the MCU, though Avatar is expected to pass the George Lucas film series’ box office total after the release of Avatar 5. Including nine movies, Star Wars’ box office total is over $10.3 billion, which isn’t expected to increase much over the next few years given a lack of titles for scheduled upcoming films and frequent delays. If Avatar 5 brings the franchise’s total beyond $11 billion in 2029, then the Avatar films have a good chance to beat Star Wars’ box office total.
