‘Avatar’ films ‘make $2 billion’ for studio: James Cameron explains strategy behind multiple sequels

James Cameron has explained how he overcame the “pushback” from 20th Century Studios about creating multiple sequels for his Avatar films.

During a recent conversation with Discussing Film, the Oscar winning filmmaker explained, “We were working on three scripts and then it turned into four. Two got split into two and three.”

Hence, the upcoming third film in the franchise spawned out of what was supposed to be part of the script for the 2022 sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.

“I actually got a fair bit of pushback from the studio,” the director and writer revealed. “My counterargument was, ‘Wait a minute. What part of you getting another chance to make $2 billion is in question here?’”

The Avatar film series have grossed a combined share worth billions of dollars — according to Variety, the original Avatar from 2009 “remains the highest-grossing movie in history (unadjusted for inflation) with $2.9 billion.” While “2022’s ‘The Way of Water’ grossed $2.3 billion to become the third highest-grosser in history.”

“Now the pressure is on for ‘Fire and Ash’ to cross the $2 billion mark at the worldwide box office later this month,” the publication added.

Avatar: Fire and Ash, directed by James Cameron will be released on December 19. The franchise is expected to launch two more films in the future, with its total count being five.