It’s inevitable – whenever somebody or something encounters gigantic levels of success, it always begets some kind of backlash. And so while James Cameron’s Avatar became the biggest box-office smash of all time back in 2009 – ringing up box office receipts to the tune of $2.84 billion and counting, overtaking Avengers: Endgame after a 2021 re-release in China, and set to add to that total when it returns to cinemas here in September – there are plenty of people out there who love to pour scorn on the sci-fi epic, questioning its staying power, relevancy, and quality, as well as the desire for Cameron’s upcoming quartet of sequels. But there’s a reason the first Avatar made that much money in the first place – and the filmmaker himself really isn’t worried about what certain quarters of the internet may say about it.
Speaking to Empire in the upcoming world-exclusive Avatar: The Way Of Water issue, Cameron hit back at the criticisms people tend to lobby at the first film. “The trolls will have it that nobody gives a shit and they can’t remember the characters’ names or one damn thing that happened in the movie,” he says. “Then they see the movie again and go, ‘Oh, okay, excuse me, let me just shut the fuck up right now.’ So I’m not worried about that.”
Cameron is similarly not worried – and equally not mincing his words – when it comes to super-sized cinema runtimes. The original Avatar clocked in at 160 minutes in its theatrical version, while The Way Of Water is currently coming in at around three hours. “I don’t want anybody whining about length when they sit and binge-watch [television] for eight hours,” he says. “I can almost write this part of the review. ‘The agonisingly long three-hour movie…’ It’s like, give me a fucking break. I’ve watched my kids sit and do five one-hour episodes in a row. Here’s the big social paradigm shift that has to happen: it’s okay to get up and go pee.” Who’s going to argue against a filmmaker with this much form in turning three-hour epics into record-breaking box office behemoths?
Empire’s Avatar: The Way Of Water issue hits newsstands on Thursday 7 July, with unparalleled access to the film and its cast and crew – heading to Cameron’s Lightstorm HQ and talking to the director himself, as well as producer Jon Landau, stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, and plenty more. Plus, it’s stacked with never-before-seen images, opening up the world of Pandora like never before. Pre-order a copy online here. Avatar: The Way Of Water comes to UK cinemas from 16 December.