“Avatar” star Sam Worthington recently told The Independent that director James Cameron’s record-breaking film franchise doesn’t face the same studio pressure as other Hollywood megaseries, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The “Avatar” series has grossed $6.7 billion over three films and is released in theaters around the world. The 2009 original remains the highest-grossing film of all time, and 2022’s “The Way of Water” ranks third on the list.
“We’re not like Marvel movies. In a way…when we make it, it feels like an independent movie,” Worthington said. “We have no external pressure, no expectations from the press, studio or community. It doesn’t affect what we do. That’s why we can take more risks.”
“It’s not like the studio is going to be in trouble if we don’t finish the scene by today. We’re just playing and creating. People don’t understand that,” he added, dispelling rumors that Cameron was a tyrant on set. “They think Jim is this big, rugged machine that’s a didactic director. And he’s not. He’s a painter.”
The latest Avatar movie, Fire & Ash, was released in theaters in December last year and grossed $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office. Although it performed well overall for a Hollywood blockbuster, it was a significant step down from its predecessor, leading some to question whether Cameron had a chance to make the final two Avatar films. Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 technically have release dates set on Disney’s calendar (December 21, 2029 and December 19, 2031), but Cameron has been vocal about releasing them only if the series is a financial success.
“I don’t know if the story will ever surpass this. I hope it does,” Cameron told EW before “Fire and Ashes” was released in theaters. “But, you know, we prove that business case every time we go out… If for some reason we don’t get 4 and 5, we’ll call a press conference and explain what we were going to do. How do you like it?”
Cameron said that another option would be to novelize the scripts for Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, adding, “There’s so much culture, so much backstory, so many facets of detail that have been worked out into these characters. I’d love to do something with that level of granularity.”
In an interview with Variety around the same time, director Cameron said when asked about Avatar 4 that he was “getting ahead of the game” because he said, “We have to make some money with this movie. Every time we go out, we have to make this crazy business case again. We have to prove it. The world has changed. We all know the statistics, we all know what the state of play is. It’s starting to pick up a little bit with some recent releases.” “Good” is also doing well, and “Zootopia 2” is also doing well, so let’s see how it goes. ”
