The huge public turnout for “Avatar”, a sequel to the famous 2009 film by James Cameron, is evidence that “cinema has returned” after the pandemic, as the Canadian director notes, whose revenues from his new work have so far exceeded two billion dollars.
“Within a year, we found out that this boom was not a coincidence and was not due to just one movie,” the director told AFP in Los Angeles, pointing to a number of other feature films that contributed to bringing audiences back to theaters in America in 2022, such as ” Top Gun: Maverick” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and the new installment of the “Spider-Man” adventure series.
Cameron notes during a ceremony honoring him in Hollywood that “the great public interest in these films, as well as the success achieved by the sequel to Avatar, are indicators of a general trend.”
It seems that “Avatar” is following in the footsteps of its predecessor, that is, the first part, which, when it was released in theaters 13 years ago, generated revenues of about $ 2.9 billion, and it is still today on the throne of revenue in the history of cinema.
Shot in 3D, the underwater story continues to top the North American box office for the fifth consecutive week and is now the seventh highest-grossing film in world cinema history.
This public success would revitalize the film industry and make it self-confident again, after fears arose over its future due to the competition of streaming platforms, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.