Normally we don’t talk much about a film’s box office failure or success on Spill, but this story is worth reporting. According to Hollywood.com’s President of Box Office Paul Dergarabedian, as of yesterday, January 25th, just over a month after it’s release, James Cameron’s Avatar passed the director’s previous effort, Titanic, to become the highest grossing film (worldwide) of all time.

Just to make things clear, the film has yet to surpass Titanic’s boffo domestic total of $600.8 million, but as of yesterday it’s at $554,981,691 million and counting. Expect that coveted domestic No. 1 spot to be taken by the epic sci-fi adventure in the next two weeks. In terms of international business, to date, Avatar’s foreign gross totals $1,303,885,198, easily making it the highest grossing film overseas. To put things in perspective, however, when looking at domestic totals adjusted for inflation, Avatar sits at number 26, behind such cinema staples as Gone With The Wind, The Sound of Music, Ben-Hur and The Sting. In translation, the national attendance of those classics was far greater that that of Cameron’s 3D marvel.

Now that we’ve mentioned 3D, let’s not forget that moviegoers have been paying steep premiums to see the Terminator 2 director’s latest tour-de-force the way he intended it to be seen: in 3D, and in many cases in IMAX. Those who saw the film in IMAX 3D shelled out a whopping $41 for a pair of tickets, far greater prices than anyone paid to see his 1998 Academy Award winning opus.

Still, no one can deny the commercial triumph of Cameron’s storied project and career. He now holds the number one and two spot for highest grossing films of all time – not bad for a guy who’s first film was Piranha Part Two: The Spawning.