A hot-tempered Hollywood heavyweight is getting introspective.

Filmmaker James Cameron made his first comments since “Avengers: Endgame” stomped on his 21-year-long reign atop the list of the highest-grossing films in history.

Cameron first held the title after the success of his 1997 work “Titanic.” He topped his own record in 2009 with “Avatar,” which raked in $2.79 billion.

In May, Anthony and Joe Russo’s “Avengers” flick edged out “Titanic” for the second spot on the list, having earned $2.2 billion at that point.

Come July, “Endgame” surpassed “Avatar.” Now, the second- and third-place director — notorious for his cocky attitude — is speaking out about losing his box office crown.

However, the measured response from the guy who infamously bellowed “I’m the king of the world!” at the 1998 Oscar telecast might surprise some.

“It gives me a lot of hope,” the filmmaker told Deadline Wednesday. ” ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is demonstrable proof that people will still go to movie theaters.”

Cameron, who’s working on back-to-back follow-ups to “Avatar” in New Zealand, said he hopes the enthusiasm for “Endgame” transfers to his new sequels — when they’re ready.

“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,” he told the entertainment outlet.

Now, he has hope.

“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.”

“Avatar 2” is set to hit theaters in 2021. Can’t wait that long for a Cameron? He produced a sequel, “Terminator: Dark Fate,” that’s out Nov. 1.