James Cameron has heard quite enough from Avatar runtime haters
After watching his kids binge-watch TV, Cameron says he's had enough of hearing fans complain they can't sit through his movies
In the era of the Great American TV Binge Watch, James Cameron is sick of hearing complaints about his three-hour epics. Now that it’s socially acceptable to devour a days worth of Stranger Things episodes the second they’re released, the Avatar: The Way of Water director doesn’t want any more flack for his runtimes.
“I don’t want anybody whining about length when they sit and binge-watch [television] for eight hours,” he tells Empire. “I can almost write this part of the review. ‘The agonizingly 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.”
Avatar:The Way of Water reportedly clocks in at around three hours, and the original 2009 Avatar boasted a 160 minute theatrical version. The visually stunning sci-fi film remains the highest-grossing film of all time, followed by Avengers: Endgame and Titanic.
With the longstanding box-office legacy Avatar still wields, Cameron has reason to feel believe in the audience enjoyments his films deliver. When it comes to online haters or negative reviewers, Cameron tells Empire, all it will take is a second viewing to change negative opinions.
“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.” (This writer would like to go on the record as remembering exactly two “damn things” from the first Avatar: the word “unobtanium” and Sigourney Weaver’s Stanford tank top.)
Avatar:The Way of Water is set to hit theaters on December 16 of this year.