Avatar: The Way of Water has knocked Spiderman: No Way Home off its perch as the sixth highest grossing film of all time just as James Cameron roasted streaming services for offering up a sub-par experience to audiences.
As per Collider, Avatar: The Way of Water has now grossed over USD$1.916 billion worldwide.
The sequel to Cameron's 2009 film Avatar is now projected to hit USD$2 billion in the near future.
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Cameron sat down with NME to discuss the film's success, hitting out at those to choose to watch films at home or worse: on a mobile phone.
"I think when you start looking at something on a phone, you're sort of missing the point," the iconic director said.
"Going to a movie theater is less about the size of the screen and the perfection of the sound system. And it's more about a decision to not multitask."
He added that this is what people are missing when it comes to streaming.
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"You're making a deal between yourself and a piece of art to give it your full attention. And you don't when you're at home. People don't cry as much when they watch a movie at home as they will in a movie theater.
"You don't have the depth of emotion."
This isn't the first time Cameron has suggested that people are bored with streaming.
While sitting down with Variety, the filmmaker said The Way of Water's staggering numbers indicates audiences are ready to return to theaters.
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He told the outlet: "They’re even going back to theaters in China where they’re having this big COVID surge.
"We’re saying as a society, ‘We need this! We need to go to theaters.’ Enough with the streaming already! I’m tired of sitting on my a**.”
Last year, Quentin Tarantino shared a similar sentiment, believing Netflix had ruined the film industry.
The Pulp Fiction director told Far Out that now, in the age of streaming, people are even bored by their own decisions.
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He shared: “Maybe you watch it for 10 minutes or 20 minutes, and maybe you start doing something else, and [you decide], ‘Nah, I’m not really into this.’ And then that’s kind of where we’ve fallen into."
Tarantino said: “You were kind of invested in a way that you’re not invested with electronic technology when it comes to the movie.
"In a weird way, what’s lost is commitment”.
He added: “It’s very sad to me…no one's looking back and they don’t really care”.
Topics: James Cameron, Film and TV, Entertainment
Rachel Lang