James Cameron's sci-fi epic now sits at No. 3 on the list of all-time worldwide boxoffice hits. The Fox-distributed blockbuster has blown by the Disney actioner "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" -- which plundered $1.07 billion in global booty in 2006 -- and is gunning for the second-top grosser, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," New Line's 2003 fantasy sequel that conjured a $1.12 billion worldwide tally in 2003."Avatar's" cume sits at $1.1 billion through Tuesday. That includes $367.5 million in domestic coin and a doubly stupendous $731.2 million in foreign lucre.
Cameron's 1997 blockbuster "Titanic" -- distributed domestically by Paramount and internationally by Fox -- sits atop the historic rankings with $1.84 billion. By next week, "Avatar" is expected to dock somewhere south of "Titanic," though few believe it can steam past the disaster pic for top global bragging rights.
