Director James Cameron appeared to take issue with some fans after a special screening of his latest film — “Avatar: The Way of Water” — flipping them the bird when they booed him for refusing to stop and sign a few autographs.
According to entertainment website TMZ, Cameron was at the WGA building in Beverly Hills on Saturday for the special screening — and when he went to leave, he was immediately surrounded by a crowd of fans clamoring for autographs.
As Cameron stepped into a waiting vehicle without stopping to sign anything, the crowd flipped on the famed director. “F*** Avatar,” someone said — and Cameron responded by rolling down his window just far enough to flash his middle finger at the crowd.
WATCH:
James Cameron flips off crowd who boos him for not signing autographs #AvatarTheWayOfWater
pic.twitter.com/frDDoY4alM— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) December 18, 2022
The long-awaited sequel to Cameron’s visually stunning 2009 film has done well at the box office so far, bringing in $134 million in North America and an additional $301 million from overseas markets — which places “The Way of Water” near the top for post-COVID opening weekends — but that may not be enough to balance the scales.
“The Way of Water” still fell short of the predicted $150-175 million for its first weekend in North American theaters — and with a $350 million price tag just for making the film, not to mention marketing it, the latest “Avatar” installment reportedly needs to land high among the top-grossing films of all time if producers expect to break even on the project.
But Cameron appears to have bet everything on the world he has created — he told GQ in November that he had already filmed the third installment in the series and the first act of a fourth film. When GQ pressed him on the possibility that, given his age, he might not ever make another film that was not a part of the franchise, he pushed back.
“I think first of all, that’s really unhealthy. Secondly, I’m not done until the big hook comes out from the side of the side curtain. So to me, everything, every idea, is a work in progress,” he said.
Disney seems confident that Cameron’s gamble will pay off as well. Tony Chambers, Disney’s EVP for theatrical distribution, said, “We’ve got a terrific movie that is playing across all demographics and (has) terrific word of mouth. We’ve got the screens and we’ve got a clear run. This isn’t about the opening day or the opening weekend. This is about the entire run.”