(REUTERS)

James Cameron's science-fiction fantasy "Avatar: Fire and Ash" has surpassed $1 billion in global box office proceeds, the director's ​fourth film to cross that threshold.

The film, which returned ‌audiences to the visually stunning planet of Pandora, ​has brought in $1.03 billion in ⁠worldwide ticket ‌sales, Walt Disney Studios said on Sunday.

"Fire and Ash" is the third movie in the "Avatar" series, which has earned a combined $6.35 billion globally. ⁠The movie picks up where the second film, "Avatar: ⁠The Way of Water," left off -- with Jake and Neytiri mourning the loss of a son.

The ​first film in the franchise, "Avatar,” which opened in 2009 and brought in $2.9 billion in ticket sales worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing movie ever in absolute dollars, according to Comscore, although it remains ​behind the 1939 classic "Gone With the ‍Wind" if box office returns are adjusted for inflation and average ticket prices over the decades.

Thirteen years later, in 2022, "Avatar: The ‍Way of Water” opened, grossed more than $2.3 ⁠billion globally and won ​an Oscar for best achievement in visual effects.

The latest installment, released in ​time for the holiday season, racked up $306 million ‍in the US and Canada, and $777.1 million internationally, Disney reported.

Cameron's first billion-dollar blockbuster was "Titanic," released in 1997, which has brought in nearly $2.3 billion, worldwide.