James Cameron beat his own record recently as Avatar surpassed Titanic in box office sales to become the highest-grossing film of all time. Twentieth Century Fox confirmed that the 3-D movie had earned a staggering $1.859 billion worldwide cinema sale passing the $1.843 billion record which he set in 1997 with his blockbuster Titanic.

Avatar, which stars Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington and features brand new motion-capture filming effects, has also been named as the highest-grossing film internationally.

Titanic remains the highest-earning movie in the US with takings of $600.8 million since it opened. But Avatar is only just behind with $554.9 million and was the top box office movie for six weeks in a row.

Cameron has been heavily praised for Avatar, which he wrote, produced and directed, and the movie has already started winning a number of awards. Earlier this month, the film scooped the Best Director, the Best Original Score and the Best Drama Film prizes at the Golden Globes.