James Cameron just gave Avatar: The Way of Water a very James Cameron-y start to its opening weekend. While leaving a Beverly Hills screening of the massive sequel, the director reportedly flipped off a throng of fans after he walked right by them without stopping to sign autographs or even acknowledge their presence. Miffed by the snub, the crowd started loudly booing, which prompted Cameron to flip the bird as he drove off.
You can see Cameron’s salty hand gesture for yourself below:
James Cameron flips off crowd who boos him for not signing autographs #AvatarTheWayOfWater
https://t.co/frDDoY4alM— ScreenTime (@screentime) December 18, 2022
According to Mediaite, the crowd did not respond well to Cameron flipping them off. They can be heard yelling “scumbag,” “pay up, a**hole,” and “f*ck Avatar.” So not exactly a heartwarming moment between creator and audience.
As for why Cameron was in a mood, well, for starters, that’s kind of his thing. It also probably didn’t help that The Way of Water underperformed box office projections. The sequel performed well, and the conventional wisdom is that the film will have serious legs going into the holidays, but it didn’t score a $500 million opening weekend.
Via CNBC:
The film snared $134 million at the domestic box office during its opening weekend, short of the $175 million that industry analysts had predicted, and just under the $135 million to $150 million range that Disney had forecast.
The film is tied with Warner Bros.′ “The Batman,” which also generated $134 million during its domestic opening in March, as the fifth-highest opening of the year, according to data from Comscore. Internationally, “Way of Water” tallied $300.5 million, bringing the film’s opening weekend haul to $434.5 million.
Cameron has repeatedly said that The Way of Water needs to make serious money or else he’ll have to end the franchise with Avatar 3. However, it’s too early to tell what the sequel’s grand total will be. While it fell short of the opening box office of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Way of Water has a clear runway going into the holidays with no other major releases to lure audiences away. The first Avatar also had a soft-ish opening weekend before going on to shatter box office records with a lengthy theatrical run.
(Via Mediaite)
