James Cameron Concerned About ‘Avatar’ Sequels In Current Box Office Climate: “Are We Going To Make Any Damn Money?”

The original “Avatar” was a massive hit for 20th Century Fox (pre-Disney merger) and most recently recovered its all-time global box office record from “Avengers: Endgame” thanks to a re-release in China. It’s still unknown if the four, yes four, “Avatar” sequels will replicate that landmark success at the box office, given that the current box office climate makes it seem unlikely we’ll see films being able to reach $2.73 billion again anytime soon.

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2022

Recently, director James Cameron spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the four sequels that were all written simultaneously and had their scripts completed before they moved forward with filming. This bold move is something that really hasn’t been attempted before at this level given the scale of the productions, and the closest example is how Peter Jackson shot his “Lord of The Rings” and “Hobbit” trilogies.

READ MORE: James Cameron Threatened To Fire ‘Avatar’ Sequel Writers For “Creating New Stories” Instead Of Analyzing What Worked In The Original

“It sounds kind of nuts, the process. I mean, if ‘Avatar’ hadn’t made so much damn money, we’d never do this — because it’s kind of crazy,” Cameron said of the reasoning behind the follow-up installments.

Cameron added that even he is concerned about how the current state of theatrical box office could affect the sequels’ earning potential or ability to match/surpass the original.

“The big issue is: Are we going to make any damn money? Big, expensive films have got to make a lot of money. We’re in a new world post-COVID, post-streaming. Maybe those [box office] numbers will never be seen again. Who knows? It’s all a big roll of the dice.”

Big expensive movies might still have an uphill battle in 2022 and beyond. As new COVID-19 variants continue to spring up, it means that the theater industry will have to adapt, and studios accept that not every release is going to be a huge profit maker at the global box office. Cameron is usually his own biggest cheerleader, so if he’s skeptical about the earning potential, that should undoubtedly worry Disney just a little bit, given the costs of making these massive films.

“Avatar 2” is still set to be released on December 16, 2022, and it’s unclear if audiences will come out in the same number they did in 2009-2010 for the first installment.