Avatar 2 Star Expects Movie to Beat Avengers: Endgame's Massive Box Office Record

Avengers: Endgame toppled Avatar as the highest-grossing movie to ever hit the box office last July, and the Marvel Studios flick already has a target on its back. In one recent interview, Avatar 2 star Stephen Lang had a very simple answer to someone questioning whether or not James Cameron's follow-up could lock down the spot its predecessor once held. "I expect so," Lang tells The National. To do so, Avatar 2 would need to gross at least $2,797,800,565 when it hits theaters next December.

Avatar stood atop the charts for over a decade, grossing $2.790 billion after its initial 2009 release. At the time, it had to unseat another James Cameron film in the form of Titanic, which had set the record some 12 years earlier.

In the same interview, Lang revealed his character will be returning to the franchise, despite being killed in the first film.

"It's very satisfying to know that the character was valued enough and made enough of an impression to [have Cameron] say 'we're not done with him yet'," Lang explained. "That, initially, was kind of wonderful, to me. My job is really to advocate the role that I'm playing, and so it's satisfying to have that much more time to discover Quaritch, find out what makes him tick, talk about him, and hopefully defy expectations that people have for the character, to create new expectations. I'm working now with a much broader canvas than I was with the first Avatar, and it keeps me in concert with James Cameron to really go to town and examine the character in detail. That, to me, is totally tremendously satisfying and challenging."

"He has evolved, definitely," Lang continued. "We're making four more films, so if he doesn't evolve, we're in some kind of trouble. And it's not always a question of evolution, it's about becoming more deeply entrenched. I'm still discovering it. That's something I'll be discovering as we continue to work because we're by no means near finished with this process."

Lang will join Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, CCH Pounder, and Matt Gerald as they reprise their roles from the first film. New additions to the franchise include Kate Winslet, Michelle Yeoh, Jemaine Clement, and Vin Diesel amongst others.

Avengers: Endgame is currently streaming on Disney+ while Avatar 2 is set for release December 17, 2021.

Do you think Avatar 2 will topple Endgame's monstrous record? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!