James Cameron has expressed a worry that his Avatar sequels might flop at the box office.
The director, who has been hard at work on the follow-up to his 2009 blockbuster for several years now, revealed he was relieved to see Avengers: Endgame make so much money as it’s “demonstrable proof that people will still go to movie theatres”.
He told Deadline: ‘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 questioned whether Avatar 2 and 3 will be able to tap into the same zeitgeist that Endgame did, but said he’s going to “try” and pull it off.
“Maybe we do, maybe we don’t, but the point is, it’s still possible,” he said. ”I’m happy to see it, as opposed to an alternate scenario where, with the rapid availability, a 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.”
Upon its release, Avatar became the highest-grossing film of all time, but was surpassed this year by Endgame.
The Marvel sequel now sits at the top of the list with an estimated $2.79bn at the world box office, followed by Avatar and Titanic, which was also directed by Cameron.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, the director admitted that if Avatar 2 and 3 don’t perform well at the box office, plans to release the fourth and fifth instalments could easily change.
Last year, he revealed why it’s taken him so long to begin shooting the sequels, blaming underwater motion-capture technology – something he claims has “never been done before.”
