James Cameron gets honest about 'Avatar: Fire & Ash' box office

Avatar: Fire and Ash is in theatres, but its director, James Cameron, is cautious, as he is aware the latest film has to collect an impressive sum to justify the next two pricey installments.

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves because, first of all, we’ve got to make some money with this one,” the filmmaker tells Variety, adding he is not keen to weigh in on the franchise's future until the box office picture of the current movie is clear. “Every time we go out, we have to prove this crazy business case yet again.

He continues, “The world has changed. We all know the stats, where theatrical is. It’s been a bad year. It’s starting to perk up a little bit with a couple of recent releases: ‘Wicked: For Good’ has done well, and ‘Zootopia 2’ is doing well. So, we’ll see.”

This is not the first time James has shared that Avatar 3 needs to make money for the franchise to continue.

"Do we make any money with 'Avatar 3” I mean, we’ll make some money. But the question is, what kind of a profit margin, if any, is there, and how much of an inducement is that to continue on in this universe? Or maybe we wait a while until we figure out how to bring costs down," he earlier told the outlet.

It is reported that Disney, the studio behind Avatar, has shelled out $350 million per movie, along with $150 million in marketing.

In return, the Avatar has grossed nearly $3 trillion, and its sequel, The Way of Water, has grossed $2.3 billion. Meanwhile, Avatar: Fire and Ash has raked in $345 million on its opening weekend.