Written by Edwin Francisco
James Cameron faces an uphill climb for Avatar: The Way of Water to break even. According to Cameron, the film needs to become the global third or fourth the highest-grossing film of all time to achieve that goal. For perspective, it has to top Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avengers: Infinity War.
James Cameron’s own Titanic broke records as the most expensive film in 1997. At the time, it was completely unheard of. Likewise, the movie was every bit its size in terms of budget during its time. Cameron even thought that it was going to fail. It didn’t. Instead, it became the biggest box-office smash of all time. In fact, it stayed that way until Cameron beat it with Avatar.
Somehow, the director is again manifesting the same dread and pessimism as the sequel to Avatar approaches. Avatar: The Way Of Water is every bit of a visual masterpiece again judging by the bits of the scenes that is the official trailer. Indeed, there is a certain expectation.
James Cameron Sees Uphill Climb For Avatar 2 To Break Even
Image: 20th Century Studios
A number of analysts are thinking whether Cameron can really have three top-grossing films under his belt. With Titanic reigning for years only to step down for Avatar, could Avatar: The Way of Water surf to the top spot? Or, from Cameron’s point of view, at least take the fourth spot?
As with his previous movies, people can only speculate at the moment. Tickets are already up for sale. And it will only be a matter of time before analysts can punch the numbers together to financially speculate an opening weekend tally. From there, they will go as the weeks go by.
There is no other film that can contend with the tracking of the Avatar sequel for the upcoming season. We recall there is a certain movie that moved its date of release, too. People speculated that the move was because the studio wanted to steer clear of the tsunami that The Way of Water.
As reported by Bounding Into Comics, Cameron has stated his box-office target for Avatar: The Way of Water. He declared that for it to break even, it has to secure fourth rank in the all-time top grossing films. In gross value, it has to be at least $2.07 billion. Its predecessor is still reigning supreme at $2.9 billion.
James Cameron Sees Uphill Climb For Avatar 2 To Break Even
Image: 20th Century Studios
Despite the tall order, Cameron is adamant that he creates the movie as faithful to his vision as ever. He said:
I used to be really defensive about [the fact that films like Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Titanic were some of the most expensive to produce] because it was always the first thing anybody would mention. And now I’m like, if I can make a business case to spend a billion dollars on a movie, I will (expletive) do it.
Setting goals for himself, thus for the projects he does seem to get higher every chance he gets. No doubt his movies push the boundaries of cinematography. Furthermore, he challenges not just himself but other studios as well. The question now remains is will he get to meet his new targets this time around?
The possibility of bringing the fourth and the fifth installment of the franchise also depends on this sequel. Let’s hope he still gets to tell his stories about Pandora in the future.