James Cameron is a challenge-loving person. He demonstrated that with Titanic, for which he forfeited his $8 million salary in 1997 when the studio tried to halt production due to budget overruns. But it became the first film to generate more than one billion dollars in revenue. Then Came Avatar, which became the second highest-grossing film directed by him. And Now Avatar The Way of Water is also expensive like the rest of his movies had to be in the Top 5 highest-grossing movies to break even.
Without providing an exact cost, he said in an interview with GQ that Avatar The Way of Water was “Extremely Fc**ing Expensive.” There is no need to interpret to realize that the initial budget, which was $250 million minus promotional charges, was greatly exceeded.
He might have even produced the most expensive movie if the sequel was to be believed. The movie would have been described as “the worst case in cinema history” by a production member.
The 68-year-old director retorted, “You must rank third or fourth all-time in box office receipts. It must generate more than $2 billion in worldwide income, without a doubt. To Break Even.”
Avatar, The Way of Water, is Expensive
Only five films have generated over $ 5 billion, two of which he has directed, Avatar (2.922 billion in 2009), Avengers: Endgame (2.797 billion in 2019), Titanic (2.201 billion in 1997), Star Wars: The Force Awakening (2.069 billion in 2015), and Avengers: Infinity War.
Only two blockbusters this year—Top Gun: Maverick (1.468 billion) and Jurassic World: Dominion—have reached half of this total. Avatar 2 must unquestionably dominate the box office in 2022.
Avatar: The Way of Water’s 3 hours and 12 minutes long only makes matters worse. Enough to startle some viewers and even a producer who tried vainly to cut his blockbuster.
“I said something that I’ve never said to anyone else in the business, explains James Cameron to GQ. I think this film is going to make all this fc**ing money. At this time- there, this studio executive freaked out and kicked me out. And I told him to get the hell out of my office. And that’s where it stopped.”
