Doubt James Cameron at Your Own Risk

You don’t need to be a studio executive to know that green-lighting a sequel to the highest-grossing movie of all time is a sound business decision, but as James Cameron told GQ, his long-awaited Avatar follow-up, The Way of Water, is “very fucking” expensive. So expensive, in fact, that Cameron claims The Way of Water would need to become one of the highest-grossing movies ever made just to break even. While Cameron might be somewhat overexaggerating how well the sequel has to perform at the box office, The Hollywood Reporter does put The Way of Water’s production budget in the $350 million to $400 million range, which is extremely rarefied air. (Only a handful of movies—two Avengers sequels and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides—have crossed the $350 million production threshold.)