Just a big bunch of blue cats.

Screenshot: 20th century

Here’s something you probably don’t want to hear if you’re a high-level movie director for Avatar 20th Century producer or their new corporate overlords at Disney: director james cameron to call his own retinue, The way of the water, “the worst business case in movie history”. But that’s apparently what he did!

According to a report by VarietyCameron said the long development (and perhaps long overdue?) Avatar after must “be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. This is your threshold. This is your break-even point. That would mean The way of the water needs to win somewhere between Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ $2.07 billion at the box office and Cameron’s Titanicwhich currently stands at $2.2 billion.

The good news for these executives is that the first Avatar the film is the all-time worldwide box office champion with an incredible $2.9 billion to its name, so The way of the water Breaking the $2 billion mark is by no means impossible. The bad news is that Planning on a movie making over $2 billion seems like the height of hubris, which is all on Cameron’s mark, but surely has these executives sitting in the middle of the night screaming at the nightmare of all those dollar signs blushing in the toilet.

Avatar is so odd in that it was – is – the highest-grossing movie of all time, but left almost no pop culture imprints like the star wars and the Marvel franchises. Does that mean people stocked up on blue cats in 2009, or did they quietly enslave for more? We’ll see when The way of the water finally sees the light of day on December 16, but rest assured even if it bombs, Cameron seems determined to make Avatar 3.


Want more io9 news? Find out when to wait for the last wonder, star warsand star trek versions, what’s next for the DC Universe in Film and TVand everything you need to know about James Cameron Avatar: The Way of the Water.