How James Cameron Weaponized Titanic Against Fox While Filming Avatar
Never bet against James Cameron. The man is responsible for some of the best and highest-grossing blockbusters of the last 40 years, and yet every time he makes a new (and admittedly risky) movie, everyone is skeptical about its chances of success. Granted, Cameron himself saying "Avatar: The Way of Water" had to become one of the highest-grossing movies of all time just to break even does sound ludicrous and nearly impossible, but still! Jimmy C delivers.
Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and it is easy to see now that the "Avatar" franchise just prints money, but before 2009 there were plenty of reasons to be doubtful of a brand-new sci-fi movie making that much money. This means that James Cameron faced naysayers, particularly studio execs who thought they knew how to deliver the highest-grossing movie of all time better than the guy who had done it already.
In an interview with The New York Times, Cameron recalled clashing with 20th Century Fox over "Avatar." According to the Titanic enthusiast and filmmaker, the studio "Felt that the film should be shorter and that there was too much flying around on the ikran — what the humans call the banshees." Those scenes are, of course, the best in the whole movie, and James Cameron had the data to prove it. "It turns out that's what the audience loved the most, in terms of our exit polling and data gathering."
So what does James Cameron do when he faces non-believers? He pulls out the receipts. "I just drew a line in the sand and said, 'You know what? I made 'Titanic.' This building that we're meeting in right now, this new half-billion-dollar complex on your lot? 'Titanic' paid for that, so I get to do this.' And afterward, they thanked me."
Never bet against James Cameron
In all fairness, the level of success James Cameron has brought with his work should earn him some credit — and some leeway to absolutely show off his record-breaking hits. He does not make excuses and has the success to prove why he should get to make his projects his way. We're talking about a director who does not care one bit if you leave his movie to go to the bathroom, because he knows you'll watch it multiple times.
He has also fought for his movies plenty of times in the past, only to be proven right at the box office. Cameron once threatened studio execs during the making of "True Lies" in order to cast Tom Arnold in the film, and got away with it. And, of course, there are all the times Hollywood was ready to call "Titanic" a disaster before the film became one of the biggest box-office hits of all time.
James Cameron is known for having a temper, with some possibly calling him a tyrant due to his rigorous filming demands. From his early days with "The Abyss" to working on "Avatar," Cameron is quick to unleash his ire when people are not following his rules, like people who forget to silence their phones. Still, that is not to say James Cameron is not dedicated to his craft. After all, Cameron has literally almost died while making several of his movies, including that one time he almost drowned making "The Abyss." Granted, that movie was dangerous for everyone involved.