Ever since it was released (and even before that), it wasn’t a question of whether or not Star Wars: The Force Awakens would surpass Avatar to become the No. 1 box office hit in North American history, but rather a question of when.
Not accounting for inflation, The Force Awakens has made $758.2 million domestically before Wednesday, when it will officially top the $760.5 million that James Cameron’s Avatar earned in 2009-2010. Avatar’s number also includes roughly $10 million that it earned during a re-release later that year.
Both films are the only to ever surpass the $700 million mark in North America.
While that’s an impressive feat (“Most impressive,” says Darth Vader), Awakens still has a ways to go to top Avatar’s global box office numbers. Avatar took in $2.78 billion worldwide during it’s run. So far, the new Star Wars film is “only” at $799.1 million, which is still good for No. 4 all-time. The film also has yet to come out in China, which will affect numbers dramatically.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, experts are pegging the final tally to end up around $2.2 billion-$2.4 billion worldwide, which would be good for No. 2 all-time, ahead of Cameron’s Titanic ($2.19 billion).
