Only five movies in history have ever made over $2b worldwide
Avatar: The Way of Water has to become “the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history” to break even, James Cameron has revealed.
While not saying exactly how much the 190-minute-long sequel cost, he admitted to GQ that it was “very f**king [expensive].”
There’s plenty of hype surrounding the movie, after all it has been 13-years in the making – Avatar was released in December 2009 – so hopefully Cameron can rake a bit back in ticket sales.
The director didn’t tell GQ exactly how much the CSI-filled flick cost to make, but he did offer some context, revealing it would have to be one of the top grossing films of all time to break even.
According to Variety, Cameron’s original Avatar film is the highest-grossing movie worldwide with USD$2.9 billion. Avengers: Endgame comes in second place at $2.7b.
Cameron’s Titanic is third, at $2.1b.
So, for the studio to make any money off Cameron’s much-anticipated sequel it needs to beat Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which made $2.07b and Avengers: Infinity War, which earned $2.05b.
Only five movies in history have ever made over $2b worldwide, so while Cameron’s got a task ahead of him, if anyone can do it, he can. After all, he’s broken the billion mark twice before.
Cameron has since told Entertainment Weekly that the sequel to the blockbuster has been in the works since 2012, however, filming did not begin until five years later.
The biggest challenge in making the film, not surprisingly, Cameron said, was dealing with the fact it’s set underwater.
A specially built 900,000-gallon tank was required for filming. But lucky for the studios, the same tank will be used for the third and fourth films in the franchise.
Avatar: The Way of Water opens in theatres December 16.
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