As the release date for Avatar: The Way of Water draws near, director James Cameron is starting to feel noticeably more confident about the long-awaited sequel’s success. Granted, The Way of Water has to match, if not exceed the mammoth performance of the original film to justify its hefty price tag, but Cameron is feeling pretty good even though the theatrical landscape has significantly changed in the past 13 years.
When asked if he’s concerned about the Avatar sequel being his first box office flop, Cameron gave Variety one of his trademark cocky responses.
“That it’ll fall on its ass?” Cameron replied to the suggestion that this could be the movie that “fells” him. “I don’t worry about it. I don’t think anything one does artistically in life should be determined by the trolls and the naysayers. You just go where you think it makes sense.”
According to Cameron, he’s just a regular guy who knows what regular people want, so he’s pretty sure he’s got this one in the bag:
“And you make it, in a sense, for yourself,” adds Cameron, whose filmography also includes the first two “Terminator” films as well as “True Lies.” “But my tastes are so kind of blue collar and general. They’re not esoteric, my personal tastes. If I like my movie, I know other people are gonna like my movie. It’s very simplistic, really, ultimately.”
Of course, this is a decidedly different tone than previous interviews where Cameron has been surprisingly candid about the possibility of the Avatar sequel not living up to the hype. He’s openly stated that he’s prepared to end the franchise with Avatar 3 if the films no longer make commercial sense. However, should they succeed, Cameron is already making plans for even more films beyond the previously announced Avatar 3 through 5.
Judging by the first round of critical reactions, people might want to get ready for a whole lot of Avatar.
Avatar: The Way of Water opens in theaters on December 16.
(Via Variety)
