James Cameron Responds to Claim No One Can Remember Avatar Characters' Names

James Cameron's Avatar is the top-grossing movie in history, with it not only becoming a success when it first landed in theaters back in 2009, but with its legacy seeing it come back to overtake Avengers: Endgame after that film temporarily took over the top spot. Despite that financial success, some audiences think the film lacks any sort of cultural significance, with Cameron recently detailing that, while some viewers argue its lack of an impact on moviegoers is due to an underwhelming story, he thinks that, with fans having only spent one film with the characters, the upcoming sequel will help cement these figures in the lexicon. Avatar: The Way of Water hits theaters on December 16th.

"There's skepticism in the marketplace around, 'Oh, did it ever make any real cultural impact?'" Cameron recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. "'Can anybody even remember the characters' names?'" 

He continued, "When you have extraordinary success, you come back within the next three years ... That's just how the industry works. You come back to the well, and you build that cultural impact over time. Marvel had maybe 26 movies to build out a universe, with the characters cross-pollinating. So it's an irrelevant argument. We'll see what happens after this film."

Avatar was only the latest film of Cameron's to dominate the box-office charts, as his 1997 film Titanic not only went on to become the top-grossing film of all time up until the release of Avatar, but also earned a number of Oscars. Unlike a film's box-office performance, attempting to qualify in any objective way whether or not a film has cultural significance is a seemingly impossible task. After all, even if it's a negative opinion, nearly every moviegoer had thoughts on Avatar at the time of its release and seemingly also have opinions on the upcoming sequel.

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar: The Way of Water begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

Directed by James Cameron and produced by Cameron and Jon Landau, the Lightstorm Entertainment Production stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Kate Winslet. Screenplay by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver. Story by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver & Josh Friedman & Shane Salerno. David Valdes and Richard Baneham serve as the film's executive producers.

Avatar: The Way of Water hits theaters on December 16th.

Do you think the film has cultural significance? Let us know in the comments!

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