James Cameron's gamble pays off as his "Avatar" passes the billion-dollar mark, with folks looking to take a swipe at James Cameron and his movie "Avatar."

After a spectacular Martin Luther King Day weekend there is no space for speculations left that "Avatar" will surpass "Titanic" atop the box-office charts, but two new movies managed to fetch their audiences too.

The 3-D technology based, "Avatar" had another big weekend overseas, registering a $129 million collection from 112 territories. It witnessed a $14.5-million start in Italy, the last major country where it hadn't yet launched, was the biggest ever for a film there, Fox revealed.

The film made a clear sweep, grabbing two of the biggest prizes-best picture and best director for Cameron at Sunday's Golden Globes. And it's poised to win big at the Academy Awards in March.

It was speculated to surpass the $1.24 billion till last week that "Titanic" bagged, Cameron's prior picture, and become the most successful of all time worldwide, collected overseas.

In addition the movie is hoped to pass the 1997 film's domestic total of $600.8 million shortly.

Indeed, it's the film's success on which, Kilday says, different interest groups are hoping to capitalize. "'Avatar is a big mother whale", he said, "and a lot of smaller fish are swimming along in its wake hoping to pick up some of its momentum".