The highest-grossing Christmas weekend movies from the last 40 years

Gareth Cattermole // Getty Images – Christmas weekend gross: $77,359,666 – Total gross: $684,075,767 – Genre: Action – Run time: 192 minutes – Release date: Dec. 16, 2022 – Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver Thirteen years after the special effects-pioneering, box office-dominating sci-fi epic “Avatar” was released, director James Cameron (who made three of the films on this list) brought audiences back to the alien world of Pandora with the first of four planned sequels, “Avatar: The Way of Water.” The film takes place more than a decade after the original, following Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their children as they’re forced to once again evade human colonizers by taking refuge with an aquatic Na’vi tribe known as the Metkayina. “The Way of Water” utilizes cutting-edge technology, which allowed Cameron and his crew to film performances underwater. However, its release also sparked the renewal of a Native American-led boycott of “Avatar,” citing cultural appropriation and “anti-Indigenous rhetoric” by Cameron in a 2010 interview. #11. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Albert L. Ortega // Getty Images – Christmas weekend gross: $82,150,981 – Total gross: $644,548,924 – Genre: Adventure – Run time: 133 minutes – Release date: Dec. 16, 2016 – Cast: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn A galaxy far, far away takes the most spots on this list of any franchise, starting with the 2016 film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Set just a week before the original “Star Wars,” the prequel follows rebel Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and her crew as they fight to steal plans for a terrifying weapon known as the Death Star, scoring the rebels’ first major victory against the totalitarian Empire. It sparked an acclaimed spinoff series on Disney+ called “Andor,” which tells the origin story of Diego Luna’s character, Cassian Andor. #10. Meet the Fockers Chris Polk // Getty Images – Christmas weekend gross: $83,181,157 – Total gross: $467,196,588 – Genre: Comedy – Run time: 114 minutes – Release date: Dec. 22, 2004 – Cast: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman In the 2000 comedy “Meet the Parents,” hilarious mishaps ensue when Gaylord “Greg” Focker meets fiancée Pam Byrnes’ (Teri Polo) parents. In this sequel, the couple gets their two families together, introducing Greg’s freewheeling parents (franchise newcomers Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman) to the straitlaced Byrneses (Blythe Danner and Robert De Niro). The film broke the record set the year prior by “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” for the highest Christmas Day gross, which was surpassed by “Avatar” and “Sherlock Holmes” in 2009. #9. Titanic 20th Century-Fox // Getty Images – Christmas weekend gross: $86,514,926 – Total gross: $1,446,815,282 – Genre: Drama – Run time: 194 minutes – Release date: Dec. 19, 1997 – Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane A fictional romance between young lovers Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) unfolds alongside the real-life tragic voyage of the RMS Titanic in James Cameron’s historical epic. “Titanic” was a sensation at the box office, bringing in a staggering $1.8 billion. It tied “Ben-Hur” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” for the most Academy Awards won by a film with 11. Given its success, it’s easy to forget “Titanic” was expected to be a failure after Cameron almost doubled the original budget from $109 million to $210 million. #8. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi