James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water already proves that the pandemic era is now behind us as the movie continuously hits the mark at the box office. Theater seats are now full, and moviegoers have more freedom to see their favorite films on the big screen.
The Avatar sequel’s performance, according to the filmmaker, is a reminder that fans should value the theater experience more than online streaming.
The Way of Water inches its way to reaching $2 billion, and it has now grossed over $1.19 billion overseas. Two other movies produced by Cameron, Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009), also reign in the topmost rank.
James Cameron Wants People To Go Back To Theaters
Cameron spoke with Variety and shared his opinion about the old-fashioned way of seeing movies and the rise of the streaming platform. The director pointed out that he is not focusing on the numbers but on the way people are returning to theaters.
“I’m thinking of it in the terms of we’re going back to theaters around the world. They’re even going back to theaters in China where they’re having this big COVID surge. We’re saying as a society, ‘We need this! We need to go to theaters.’ Enough with the streaming already! I’m tired of sitting on my ass.”
Cameron has been vocal about his view on the advent of streaming media. In one of his interviews with The New York Times, he explained why watching the original Avatar movie at home is not actually watching it to the fullest experience.
“Young film fans never had the opportunity to see it in a movie theater. Even though they think they may have seen the film, they really haven’t seen it.”
Theaters suffered immensely during the pandemic, hence, several giant studios turned to streaming platforms like Netflix, HBO Max, etc. to continue serving fans. But now, Cameron believes that the resurgence of the theater experience is coming back, and people have to embrace it.
Future Avatar Sequels Are Already In The Works
When asked about the upcoming future sequels, James Cameron said that it seems certain now that Avatar 2 is getting the momentum it needs to produce more sequels.
“It looks like with the momentum that the film has now that we’ll easily pass our break even in the next few days, so it looks like I can’t wiggle out of this and I’m gonna have to do these other sequels. I know what I’m going to be doing the next six or seven years.”
Fans are assured that future films will arrive in the next few years. The filming for the third Avatar installment has been shot alongside The Way of Water, and the scripts for Avatar 4 and 5 have already been done.
“We’ve already captured and photographed the whole film, so we’re in extended post-production to do all that CG magic. And then ‘Avatar 4’ and ‘5’ are both written. We even have some of ‘4’ in the can.”
This hints that the succeeding years will be busy for James Cameron and the Avatar team.
Avatar: The Way of Water is now showing in theaters worldwide.
Source: Variety, The New York Times
