Director James Cameron says it’s a “certainty” that anAvatarrerelease will overthrowAvengers: Endgameat the box office as the number one movie of all time. The Marvel Cinematic Universe movie broke Cameron’s record over the summer and the director sent out a congratulatory message on social media to the Russo Brothers. However, Cameron is slipping back into his old ways and is already planning on stealing the crown from the MCU, dismissing their win as nothing more than an accounting error.
When asked about anAvatarrerelease taking back the top box office spot, James Cameron says, “I think it’s a certainty.“Avengers: Endgamegrossed $2.79 billion globally. “But let’s give Endgame their moment and let’s celebrate that people are going to the movie theater,” says the director. Cameron added that he “really enjoyed"Endgame, but thinks the success wasn’t exactly truly earned. Cameron displayed his math skills and had this to say.
“I don’t want to sound snarky after I took the high road [by congratulating Endgame]. But they beat us by one quarter of a percent. I did the math in my head while driving in this morning. I think accountants call that a rounding error.”
WhileJames Cameronis plotting his revenge, he also thinks that theAvengers: Endgamesuccess was ultimately a good thing in the grand scheme of things. The director is currently hard at work on the manyAvatarsequels, which are set to hit theaters in the next handful of years.Endgamegave him the extra push he needed to get back into working on them. Cameron explains.
“I saw it as a really good sign. I was really concerned with all the new streaming services and the different ways people can consume movies right now that the theatergoing experience might have been eroded to the point that a newAvatarfilm - even if it were better than the first one, and better received - could never achieve the same box-office levels. Now at least we know such a thing is still possible at the movie theater. This gives me heart to go forward.”
James Cameron did not announce whenAvatar will be returning to theaters, but one can imagine it will happen right beforeAvatar 2hits theaters in December 2021. The strange thing is that both Cameron’s franchise and the MCU are all under the same roof. If someone wants to watchAvatarright now, all they have to do is fire up Disney+ or dust off their Blu-ray copy, which could hurt rerelease box office numbers.
Regardless, James Cameron is positive thatAvatarwill come back and become thehighest grossing movie of all time. But, how will the sequels fair on their own? Does the world still care enough about the franchise after all of this time? That’s the real question and it’s something that Cameron is thinking about. The fourth and fifth installments will only hit theaters if two and three are hits, the director previously said. The interview with James Cameron was originally conducted byUSA Today.
