'Avatar' and 'Avengers' trade compliments

LOS ANGELES: Director James Cameron on Monday handed over the baton for the biggest box-office movie of all time to the makers of “Avengers: Endgame” after it ended the 10-year record of “Avatar.”

The Marvel Studios superhero movie “Avengers: Endgame” at the weekend overtook the $2.789 billion record set by Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi film “Avatar” to bring its global total to $2.790 billion, according to box-office data.

“I see you, Marvel,” Cameron tweeted, using a greeting in the Na’vi language featured in “Avatar” over a graphic of Iron Man surrounded by Pandoran woodsprites.

“Congratulations to Avengers: Endgame on becoming the new box-office king,” the director added.

“Endgame,” released in theatres worldwide in April and featuring more than 20 superheroes, is the culmination of a story told in 22 Marvel films that have drawn crowds to cinemas for a decade.

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo on Monday returned the compliment to Cameron.

“You’re a monumental reason why we fell in love with film in the first place. Thank you for always inspiring us and opening the world’s eyes to what’s possible. We can’t wait to see where you take us next,” the brothers said to Cameron on Twitter.

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told fans at Comic-Con in San Diego on Saturday that “Endgame” probably would eventually lose its box-office king title to Cameron’s next film.

Cameron is scheduled to release four “Avatar” sequels starting in December 2021. Disney this year acquired the “Avatar” franchise with its purchase of film and TV assets from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.

The top three all-time biggest box-office movies are now “Avengers: Endgame,” “Avatar” and “Titanic.”