After almost three weeks of release, Avatar: Fire and Ash has finally reached the billion dollar club, adding another feather to James Cameron’s cap as the film’s director.
This is the filmmaker’s fourth film to reach $1 billion at the global box office. The report comes after the director repeatedly said the latest film needed to do strong business to justify the franchise’s next installments, given the high price tag of each.
In a previous interview with Varietyhe said in reference to the franchise: “We’re getting ahead of ourselves because, first and foremost, we have to make money on this one,” adding: “Every time we come out, we have to prove this crazy business case again.
The new Avatar The film was released when theaters as a whole were struggling. In light of this, James added: “The world has changed. We all know the statistics, where cinema is at. It’s been a bad year. It’s starting to improve a little with a few recent releases: ‘Wicked: For Good’ did well, and ‘Zootopia 2’ is doing well. So, we’ll see.”
The question raised by the director at the time was not about money but about the profit margin that Ash and Fire would make.
“Are we making money on ‘Avatar 3’? I mean, we’re going to make money. But the question is what kind of profit margin is there, if any, and how much incentive does that provide to continue in this universe? Or maybe we’ll wait a little bit until we figure out how to cut costs,” he shared.
Given that Avatar: Fire and Ash has passed the billion-dollar mark, the future of the franchise no longer seems unclear in James’ eyes.
