James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water conquered worldwide box office for consecutive weeks, and on top of that, ranked as the third highest-grossing movie of all time. Despite the terrific milestone, the filmmaker rules out rumored Disney+ spinoff.
As the streaming platform begins to branch out and cater to major franchises, it looks into bringing the Avatar title into the small screen for its loyal subscribers. Cameron, in his earlier interviews, has expressed his aversion toward streaming media. While this may be a factor, the director is also looking at the price tag.
James Cameron Rules Out Disney+ Avatar Spin-off
James Cameron is vocal about his love for watching movies in theaters. His films are specifically tailored for the big screen experience, and fans won’t see Cameron give up all his efforts in bringing the magical world of Pandora into life only to be streamed on a small screen.
This is not the only reason why the Canadian filmmaker is not keen about producing Avatar projects for Disney+. The latest film already costs around $250 million, which seems very expensive to shell out for multiple TV episodes. Cameron told Los Angeles Times:
“Right now, the economics don’t make sense to spin off any of our CG main characters onto TV. But the cost of these things will progressively come down as we introduce machine deep learning into the processes and make them more automated. Ask me again in five years.”
There is also the question of the upcoming sequels that Cameron promised his fans. Avatar 3 and 4 are already in the works, with the former almost entering post-production. In between producing two more fantasy movies, the director is also pushing for his long-delayed project, the adaptation of Charles R. Pellegrino’s The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back.
Avatar: The Way of Water has already reached its goal of at least hitting $2 billion in ticket sales to break even, as Cameron stated in his interviews last year. Now, the movie has exceeded that by $250,000. Most of the budget for the film went to the visual effects, which is why Cameron insists that viewers must witness it, in all its glory, on theater screens.
Cameron Believes Movie Experience Is “Sacred”: A Quality Streaming Platforms Lack
In the age of television and streaming platforms, there is an expectation for science fiction shows to deliver high-quality content and stunning visual effects. Many Disney+ titles have found immense victory on the small screen, such as the Star Wars franchise The Mandalorian and Marvel Studios’ Ms. Marvel.
Despite the raging success of Disney+, Cameron says he is “tired of sitting” and that viewers should reconsider their viewing habits. When asked about movie-going experience, the director commented:
“The deal we make to go and immerse ourselves without distraction, it’s like doing yoga or taking a walk in the forest for a couple of hours. There’s something about it I still think is sacred.”
Now that James Cameron has clarified there won’t be any Avatar spin-offs coming to Disney+ anytime soon, fans could now focus on the upcoming movie sequels arriving on December 2024 and 2026.
Source: Los Angeles Times
