Is Avatar 2 the highest-grossing Oscar-nominated movie this year? 

Avatar 2 is poised to become a hot topic of discussion yet again, with the Oscars now fast approaching.

The James Cameron franchise is notorious for its box office exploits and it is no different this year. The new Avatar, titled Avatar: The Way of the Water, opened to huge acclaim and has grossed a collective $2.26 billion around the world, making it the highest-grossing film in Oscars this year and possibly all time.

It is, however, very close to the $1.440 billion that Tom Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick. This is a huge achievement for the film industry, at least commercially.

This year's Oscar best picture nominees have outdone almost all the years before it with a combined domestic box office earning of $1.574 billion in domestic ticket sales. The class of 2010 was the only one that was above this one, with $1.716 billion combined. This year was sure to set a new record if Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was among the Best Picture nominees.

This year also set records for Indie films with A24’s specialty blockbuster Everything Everywhere All at Once earning $70 million domestically, a remarkable achievement for indie film across the globe.

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How much did all the films make at the box office this Oscars?

There are some very big players in the Oscar best picture nominees this year. As mentioned above, Avatar 2 has arguably the best worldwide collection with a record $2.26 billion. Domestically, it earned $598.4 million, with Top Gun: Maverick leading the way with $718.7 million. Elvis is also not lagging either, with a domestic collection of $151 million.

Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front, on the other hand, has no Box Office collection due to its OTT release. Triangle of Sadness earned just $4.2 million at the domestic box office while Banshees of Inisherin and Tar added $10.5 million and $6.7 million respectively. The Fabelsman did much better with a respectable $36 million.

On the other hand, MGM's Women Talking, which is still in its limited run, has earned $1.1 million so far.

Comscore box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian commented on this year's high-grossing box office trend. He said:

"This year’s potential mega-blockbuster lineup of best picture nominees could perfectly reflect the intended inclusion of more populist style films into the list of Oscar contenders since the change to allow up to 10 rather than five best picture nominees back in 2010,...The reasoning behind the expansion was to broaden the appeal of the Oscars beyond just the esoteric and presumably increase the number of movie fans who have a vested interest in the presentation and outcome of the awards."

This year's figures may not be the most astonishing, but with the presence of both Avatar: Way of the Water and Top Gun: Maverick both participating in the same category after conquering the box offices across the globe.

It is also important to remember that Avatar: The of Water is still a threatening entity at the box office and could see added attention as a result of top Oscar nominations, which also worked for the first film. So, this year's combined total has not yet crossed the all-time mark but has a good chance to.

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The Academy Award ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 12, 2023.