James Cameron More Concerned About Movie Theaters Than Avatar 2 Box Office

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With Avatar 2 trudging toward its release date, James Cameron finds himself more concerned with the state of movie theaters right now than with box office success. Cameron's original Avatar film was a wild success mainly due to the innovative 3D technology that enhanced the lush scenery of the world he had created and captured the imaginations of audiences around the world. People flocked to see the film over and over again, and have been waiting over a decade to see the continuation of the story.

Cameron has been hard at work on Avatar 2 for some time, with fans hearing tantalizing rumors about what they might expect, including an expanded cast, new worlds, resurrected characters, and oceanic cities alongside brand new technology allowing Cameron to film underwater in ways never seen before. With his attention to detail and demand to push the boundaries of technology, it's not that surprising that the sequels to the original Avatar have taken this long to come to fruition.

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When asked about reclaiming the title for the highest-grossing movie of all time during a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Cameron said that he was far more concerned about the film industry's future. With major movie theater chains closing up shop following a year of the coronavirus pandemic, Cameron and many others want to make sure physical movie screens are not going to become a thing of the past. He would like to see the continuation of an industry that can still have movies that, in his words, "are able to make $1 billion or $2 billion" and knows that will not happen if people are not going to actual theaters.

“Everybody makes a big deal out of [the box office battle], but the truth is what we really need to focus on is getting back to theaters. Hopefully we can still have movies like that, ‘Endgame’ and ‘Avatar’ and the big Marvel movies and all that, movies that are able to make $1 billion or $2 billion.”

Cameron was a forerunner in the "event" movie industry, making some of the other highest-grossest films of all time behind Avatar such as Titanic and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. And while the box-office success of Avatar 2 is still important, he stressed the need to encourage people to go back to theaters again, subtly pushing back against the studios releasing major films on their streaming sites. But even with vaccines becoming more prevalent, the question remains as to how long it will take for consumers to be comfortable enough to return to theaters in the numbers they attended before the pandemic hit.

While Cameron may occasionally be a bit overrated, he does have a point about the heart of the film industry being theater viewing. It is a shared experience that almost everyone has in common, and there is a certain magic in the air when the audience has the right level of excitement, and the movie really delivers. Streaming a movie at home, even with a surround sound system, a big TV, and a group of friends, just does not have the same feeling. And while no one is pushing for people to head back into crowded theaters before they are comfortable, it is understandable for Cameron and others to try to find solutions to preserve what screens they can. With any luck, blockbusters like Avatar 2 will help remind people of the cinematic experience they cannot get at home, and bring them back to theaters once the pandemic era has passed.