I haven’t done a Box-Office Benjamin$ segment in a while, but thought it would be a good idea to bring you up to speed on the unbelievable money machine James Cameron’s Avatar has become. As the image above displays, Avatar (as of today) has grossed just over $505 million domestically and is inching close to $2 billion worldwide. It has been #1 at the box-office for four straight weekends since the film opened on December 18, 2009. In the process of destroying records and winning awards  (Avatar won two Golden Globes last night for Best Director, James Cameron and Best Picture) the film will also dramatically affect how films are financed in the future.

One of the biggest concerns and criticisms of the film before it was released was whether Fox would be able to make any sort of profit due to the ridiculous budget the film had, rumored at nearly $500 million. The other concern was that Avatar could struggle financially because it is an original property with no franchise association or any established fan-base to market towards. Now that Avatar could seemingly make a 400% profit, other studios will be much more inclined to take risks on spending a couple hundred million for films that are not sequels, remakes or based on cartoons or toys.

What is also quite remarkable about the financial success of Avatar is its eventual spot on the all-time domestic list. As of today, the Top 10 highest-grossing movies of all time look like this (via Box-Office Mojo):

Rank	Title(click to view)	Studio	Lifetime Gross	Year^
1	Titanic	Par.	$600,788,188	1997
2	The Dark Knight	WB	$533,345,358	2008
3	Avatar	Fox	$505,067,000	2009
4	Star Wars	Fox	$460,998,007	1977^
5	Shrek 2	DW	$441,226,247	2004
6	E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial	Uni.	$435,110,554	1982^
7	Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace	Fox	$431,088,301	1999
8	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest	BV	$423,315,812	2006
9	Spider-Man	Sony	$403,706,375	2002
10	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	P/DW	$402,111,870	2009

Avatar has only been out for one month and is only $28 million away from surpassing The Dark Knight which took the #2 spot in 2008 with $533 million domestically. If….what am I saying? When, Avatar surpasses The Dark Knight and claims the #2 spot, James Cameron will have the #1 and #2 highest-grossing films of all time. ONE DIRECTOR has the top two money-making films ever made. That is quite an amazing achievement for a filmmaker. And hey, at this rate, who’s to say that Avatar won’t knock of Titanic and claim the #1 spot. It could happen.

What Do You Think? Discuss.