James Cameron Is The First Director To Have Two 1 Billion Films Avatar Passes 1 Billion Worldwide In Just 17 Days

James Cameron Is The First Director To Have Two $1 Billion Films: Avatar Passes $1 Billion Worldwide In Just 17 Days

By Peter Sciretta/Jan. 3, 2010 12:33 pm EST

Cameron’s sci-fi epic made an estimated $68.3 million in the States during it’s third weekend out, destroying the previous record of $45 million set by Spider-Man 3. Looks like this baby has legs. If that wasn’t enough, Avatar is also setting records in Janaury: This weekend’s box office total of $68.3 million will be almost $30 million larger than the all-time record January opening weekend.

And what about yearly records? Transformers Revenge of the Fallen took 114 days to hit $402 million, becoming the highest grossing film of 2009 domestically. Avatar will surpass that figure in an estimated 20 days.