In 2019, Avengers: Endgame became the most profitable movie in history, with $2.49 billion to its name. That edged out James Cameron’s Avatar, which had held that title for years. Now, Cameron says that the success of Endgame has given him “hope” that his upcoming Avatar sequels can put the series back on top.

Before Avatar came out, another of Cameron’s movies held the record for most profitable: 1997’s Titanic. So it makes sense that the guy would be a little competitive about getting back his box office crown. Still, he was gracious after Endgame took the crown for itself, tweeting out congratulations to everyone who worked on the movie — including directors Joe and Anthony Russo — soon after the announcement was made:

Speaking to Deadline, Cameron sounds like he’s like he’s ready for the battle to begin again. “Avengers: Endgame is demonstrable proof that people will still go to movie theaters,” he said. “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.”

That makes sense. The movie industry is changing, with people sometimes more inclined to stay home and watch movies on streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ rather than go to the theater. But clearly, the idea of seeing something on the big screen still has a lot of draw. Just listen to those crowds:

And how do the Russos feel about Cameron’s reasons? Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, it sounds like Joe Russo agrees:

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[Cameron is] not wrong in saying there’s hope. There’s certainly always hope. We have to look to ourselves to provide the right kind of entertainment to get people to come out of the house. It’s more competitive than it’s ever been. I think [audiences] want new and interesting concepts. They want it presented in a way that feels spectacular and worthy of walking out the door and sitting in a theater. They want a communal experience. I think Endgame was reflective of that as a communal experience that you couldn’t get in your house: the screaming and the cheering and the communal crying and the communal laughter.

Joe holds Cameron in exceptionally high regard as a filmmaker — this is the guy who made Aliens and Terminator 2, after all. “He was a huge influence on us growing up,” he said. “We always say the script for Aliens is the template for most modern filmmaking. It spawned an era of commercial movies that owe their DNA and lineage to that script. He’s the godfather of modern commercial cinema along with Spielberg and Lucas.”

It’s always nice to see mutual respect between filmmakers who are competing against each other for box office domination.

The first of four planned Avatar sequel movies — possibly called Avatar: The Way of Water — is set for December 17, 2021. Parts three, four and five are set to be released in 2023, 2025 and 2027.

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