This is the filmmaker's third movie to hit the milestone.

His earlier movies to hit the golden figures were Titanic and the original Avatar.

The mega-achievement was presaged ahead of the weekend with the global gross on the 20th Century Studios/Disney sequel now $2.024B through Sunday. That includes $1.426B from overseas turnstiles, reports Deadline.

This means that offshore, Way of Water has become the No. 4 title of all time, jumping past Avengers: Infinity War and behind only Avatar, Avengers: Endgame and Titanic, reports the online news portal.

Avatar: The Way of Water is a 2022 American epic science fiction film directed and produced by James Cameron, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver from a story the trio wrote with Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno.

Distributed by 20th Century Studios, it is the sequel to Avatar (2009) and the second installment in the Avatar film series.

Cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, and Matt Gerald reprise their roles from the original film, with Sigourney Weaver returning in an additional role.