Avengers Endgame box office: James Cameron speaks out on Avatar loss and sequel hopes

For a decade, James Cameron’s Avatar was the highest-grossing movie of all time with a haul of $2.789 billion at the worldwide box office. However, this year saw superhero goliath Avengers Endgame finally beat the record with takings of over $2.796 billion. And now Cameron has finally spoken out on his loss while sharing hopes for Avatar 2 and the other three sequels he’s still working on. If anything, the Oscar-winning filmmaker is thankful for Avengers Endgame’s success.

Speaking with Deadline, the 65-year-old said: “It gives me a lot of hope. 

“Avengers: Endgame is demonstrable proof that people will still go to movie theaters. 

“The thing that scared me most about making Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 was that the market might have shifted so much that it simply was no longer possible to get people that excited about going and sitting in a dark room with a bunch of strangers to watch something.”

Nevertheless, he’s hoping that Avatar 2 will repeat the success of the original.

Cameron continued: “Will Avatar 2 and 3 be able to create that kind of success in the zeitgeist? Who knows. We’re trying. Maybe we do, maybe we don’t, but the point is, it’s still possible. 

“I’m happy to see it, as opposed to an alternate scenario where, with the rapid availability, custom-designed experience that everybody can create for themselves with streaming services and all the different platforms, that (theatrical potential) might not have existed anymore.”

READ MORE: HOW AVATAR COULD RECLAIM ITS BIGGEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME RECORD

On Avengers Endgame proving that such movies can still be successful, he added: “I’m just glad it still exists because I’m all about the big screen.

“Not that I wouldn’t do something for streaming where you can get into the characters in a different way but what I love the most to do is to create that completely kind of subsuming experience where you turn off your phone and you engage. 

“You as an audience member engage for two hours or two and a half hours, whatever it is. And that still exists!”

Back in July, Cameron congratulated Avengers Endgame on topping his all-time record.

At the time, he tweeted from the official Avatar account: “Oel Ngati Kameie, I see you, Marvel.”

The tweet continued: “Congratulations to Avengers Endgame on becoming the new box office king, Jim Cameron.”

This was accompanied by a picture of Iron Man interacting with creatures from Avatar.

The director wrote a similar message when Avengers Endgame sunk Titanic.

Interestingly, Cameron has previously slammed superhero movies, calling them “hypogonadal.”

He told Indie Wire last year: “I’m hoping we’ll start getting ‘Avenger’ fatigue here pretty soon.”