After holding on to the top spot for almost a decade, Avatar was finally surpassed as the highest grossing film of all time earlier this year when Avengers: Endgame brought in a staggering $2.8billion at the box office.

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But James Cameron reckons he’ll have the last laugh – with the acclaimed blockbuster director saying he expects his 2009 sci-fi adventure to reclaim pole position in the event of a re-release.

Speaking to USA Today, Cameron said, “I think it's a certainty. But let's give Endgame their moment and let's celebrate that people are going to the movie theatre."

And the filmmaker even went so far as to say that even as it stands Avatar should still hold the record.

He said, “I don't want to sound snarky after I took the high road [by offering congratulations].

"But they beat us by one quarter of a percent. I did the math in my head while driving in this morning. I think accountants call that a rounding error."

Talks of a re-release for the film are reportedly on-going with Disney, who own the rights to the franchise following the takeover of 20th Century Fox earlier this year.

Any re-release would likely tie in with the upcoming sequels, the first of which is expected to arrive in late 2021 – with Sam Worthington reprising his role as former human Jake Sully.

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A further three sequels are also in the works, currently scheduled for release in 2023, 2025 and 2027 respectively.

Authors

Patrick Cremona, RadioTimes.com's senior film writer looking at the camera and smiling
Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.

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