#1 All-time worldwide

#1 2009 releases

Movie profile

Avatar

Name: Avatar
Genre: Science Fiction, Action, Adventure
Released: 2009-12-16
Duration: 162 min

2009 · 162 min · Dune Entertainment

Science Fiction Action Adventure

IMDb View on FilmDB Where to watch

7.9/10 1,486,308 user votes

83/100 Metascore

81% Tomatometer

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.

Worldwide gross $2.92B

Budget $237.0M

Gross minus budget $2.69B

ROI 12.34x

Domestic gross

$877.1M

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$2.05B

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$193.0M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where Avatar ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.

Open rankings

All-time worldwide #1 All-time chart position of 13,006 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 2009 releases #1 Release-year chart position of 249 titles Ranked against movies released in 2009. Studio / company #1 Dune Entertainment of 20 titles Position inside the mapped Dune Entertainment movie set. Franchise #1 Avatar of 3 titles Ranked against mapped movies from the same franchise. Primary genre #1 Science Fiction of 1,251 titles Genre context based on the first mapped genre on this profile.

Nearby worldwide ranks

Comparable titles immediately around this movie by reported worldwide gross.

#2 Avengers: Endgame 2019 · $2.80B #3 Avatar: The Way of Water 2022 · $2.35B #4 Titanic 1997 · $2.26B

Quick answer

How did Avatar (2009) perform at the box office?

High confidence

Avatar (2009) earned a reported $2.92B worldwide against a reported $237.0M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about $2.69B. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 12.34x. In this database it currently ranks #1 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #1 among 2009 releases.

Worldwide gross: $2,923,706,026
Budget: $237,000,000
Gross minus budget: $2,686,706,026
ROI: 12.34x

Source: Reported box office data. Last updated: Jul 8, 2026. Gross-minus-budget is not studio net profit. It excludes marketing, distribution fees, revenue splits, tax incentives and later home/streaming revenue.

Synopsis

Story

In the 22nd century, a paraplegic Marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilization.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date: Dec 16, 2009
Production: Dune Entertainment, Lightstorm Entertainment, 20th Century Fox
Director: James Cameron
Writers: James Cameron
Countries: US, GB

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companyDune Entertainment FranchiseAvatar Release year chart2009 box office Genre chartScience Fiction Genre chartAction Genre chartAdventure

Ratings

IMDb, Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes scores.

7.9/10 1,486,308 user votes

83/100 Metascore

81% Tomatometer

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AI summary

Why this movie matters

Released in 2009, Avatar is positioned in this dataset as a Science Fiction, Action, Adventure title from Dune Entertainment. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $2.92B, reported production budget is $237.0M, gross-minus-budget is $2.69B, ROI is 12.34x. For comparison, it currently sits #1 all-time in the current chart set and #1 among 2009 releases. Streaming availability should be checked against the selected United States region because provider rights can change.

AI-generated contextual summary based on available movie, genre, ranking and box office data. It does not replace official distributor notes or financial reporting.

Data noteGross minus budget is not studio net profit. It excludes marketing, distribution fees, revenue splits, tax incentives and downstream revenue. Domestic, international and opening weekend figures marked as estimated are modelled estimates.