Advertisement

James Cameron doesn’t know if the world wants his 'Avatar' sequels

Director James Cameron is interviewed in Manhattan Beach, California April 8, 2014. Cameron, best known as director of blockbuster films "Titanic" and "Avatar", has appealed to well-known Hollywood actors to act as correspondents for new Showtime documentary "Years of Living Dangerously", which chronicles the human impact on the global climate and the consequences for humans of climate change. Picture taken April 8, 2014. To match story TELEVISION-CLIMATECHANGE/      REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT ENVIRONMENT PROFILE HEADSHOT)
Director James Cameron is interviewed in Manhattan Beach, California April 8, 2014. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

You probably expected James Cameron to be annoyed that Avengers: Endgame eclipsed Avatar to become the highest grossing film of all time.

But the legendary director has now admitted that he actually felt relief when the Marvel blockbuster moved past Avatar’s $2.79 billion gross, as it gave him “a lot of hope” that people still want to “go to movie theaters.”

Read More: Arnold Says James Cameron Is Heavily Involved in ‘Terminator 6’

However, despite the success of Endgame, Cameron is scared that the movie landscape has changed so much in the years since Avatar’s 2009 release that there isn’t an audience for the sequels.

“The thing that scared me most about making Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 was that the market might have shifted so much that it simply was no longer possible to get people that excited about going and sitting in a dark room with a bunch of strangers to watch something,” he told Deadline.

Zoe Saldana as Neytiri in Avatar (Credit: Fox)
Zoe Saldana as Neytiri in Avatar (Credit: Fox)

“Will Avatar 2 and 3 be able to create that kind of success in the zeitgeist? Who knows. We’re trying. Maybe we do, maybe we don’t, but the point is, it’s still possible.”

“I’m happy to see it, as opposed to an alternate scenario where, with the rapid availability, custom-designed experience that everybody can create for themselves with streaming services and all the different platforms, that [theatrical potential] might not have existed anymore.”

Read More: Heavy artillery on display in new 'Terminator: Dark Fate' character posters

We’ll finally find out the answer to Cameron’s question when Avatar 2 is released on December 17, 2021, while its three sequels will arrive on 22 December, 2023, 19 December, 2025, and 17 December, 2027.

James Cameron speaks during the ceremony for the unveiling of Zoe Saldana's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, U.S. May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
James Cameron speaks during the ceremony for the unveiling of Zoe Saldana's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, U.S. May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Those of you that want to see more from the mind of James Cameron don’t actually have to wait that long, though. That’s because, while he is only producing Terminator: Dark Fate, his creative input is destined to be all over the film, which will finally hit screens on 25 October.