With up to four more “Avatar” films on the way, filmmaker James Cameron says he very much hopes movie theaters will still be around to play them.
The first “Avatar” recently reclaimed the crown of biggest box office hit of all time, thanks to a re-release in China, with at least two of the four planned sequels already shot and currently in post-production.
Appearing on The Tonight Show, Cameron spoke about the theatrical experience and his hopes for the survival of cinemas in a post-pandemic age. Cameron says:
“Everybody makes a big deal out of [the box office battle], but the truth is what we really need to focus on is getting back to theaters. Hopefully we can still have movies like that, Endgame and Avatar and the big Marvel movies and all that, movies that are able to make $1 billion or $2 billion.
Let’s pray that movie theaters are still there after this pandemic and after this shift towards streaming, not that I have anything against streaming. There’s great writing and great shows in [streaming], but let’s remember that movie theaters are a sacred experience for all of us. Let’s get back out there when it’s safe to do so.”
While vaccination is going steady in the U.S. and the U.K., numbers of infections are on the rise in various countries – India in particular right now. Even so, the strong box-office of “Godzilla vs. Kong” has shown there are signs of life in the experience.
