Avatar (2009)

James Cameron has now held the all-time box office record twice, which tells you almost everything about how this list works: it's less a top ten than a running argument between about four franchises. Avatar's $2.923 billion worldwide take carried the crown from 2010 to 2019, lost it to Endgame for a matter of weeks, then reclaimed it in 2021 off the strength of re-releases. Whatever you think of the plot, it proved something durable: audiences will pay a 3D premium for spectacle, at least when the spectacle is actually spectacular. Source: Box Office Mojo, verified March 2026.