The huge success of “Avatar: The Way of Water,” James Cameron’s sequel which is approaching $2 billion at the global box office, proves that “movies are back with a resurgence” after the pandemic, the Canadian director said.
Avatar: The Way of Water
“We’ve had a year to see that this resurgence isn’t just a fluke, or just one film,” Cameron told this week in Los Angeles, pointing to other recent mega-grossing blockbusters including “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
“You’ve seen a pattern,” added Cameron, after having his handprints immortalized in cement at Hollywood’s famous TCL Chinese Theatre.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” came 13 years after the original film, which remains the highest grossing movie of all time, amassing $2.9 billion at the global box office.
Even if the sequel — which transplants the 3D action to a new underwater setting — does not quite scale those heights, it is already the seventh biggest film of all time by ticket sales.
That remarkable success has helped to reinvigorate the movie theater industry, which has been slammed by competition from streamers, and apathy about the movie-going experience since the pandemic.
In the United States alone some 500 theaters have disappeared since the arrival of Covid-19 forced costly closures, according to the National Association of Theater Owners.
Cineworld — the British group that owns America’s second-largest theater chain Regal Cinemas — is in the midst of restructuring after filing for bankruptcy last year.
But Cameron, the director of “Titanic,” “The Terminator” and many more hits, remains firmly convinced about the viability and adaptability of cinema in the future.
“I don’t think movies are ever gonna die,” he said.
“We need this as culture, as a society. We need to go into these theaters into these big large spaces with hundreds of strangers.”
Storyline
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, “Avatar: The Way of Water” begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
Directed by James Cameron and produced by Cameron and Jon Landau, the Lightstorm Entertainment Production stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang and Kate Winslet. Screenplay by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver.
Story by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver & Josh Friedman & Shane Salerno. David Valdes and Richard Baneham serve as the film’s executive producers.
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