James Cameron is tired of streaming: "We need to go to theaters"

As Avatar: The Way of Water nears the $2 billion mark, director James Cameron credits moviegoers with the film's success – and says he's done with at-home streaming.

"I’m not thinking of it in those terms,” Cameron told Variety on the Golden Globes red carpet. "I’m thinking of it in the terms of we’re going back to theaters around the world. 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 ass."

The long-awaited follow-up to 2009's Avatar is now the seventh highest-grossing movie of all time, earning $1.7 billion internationally after its fourth weekend at the top of the global box office. Because of the film's $400 million+ budget, Cameron previously stated that the movie would need to be "the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history" in order to break even. Avatar 4 and 5 have been greenlit, with Avatar 3 already in post-production.

"It looks like just with the momentum that the film has now that will easily pass our break even in the next few days, so it looks like I can't wiggle out of this, I'm gonna have to do these other sequels," Cameron said of the franchise's continuation. "I know what I'm going to be doing the next six or seven years."

Avatar: The Way of Water is in theaters now. For more, check out our guide to the Way of Water ending explained, or, our list of upcoming movie release dates.

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.