How much does “Avatar:The Water’s Way”? The production budget alone, according to early reports, was around $250 million, but director James Cameron isn’t ready to give a concrete figure yet. The possible answer Cameron would give about the spin-off’s spending plan when asked by GQ magazine was the accompanying: “Very fucking [expensive].”

According to reports, Cameron informed Disney and 20th Century Studios executives that his sequel’s excessive budget was “the worst business case in movie history. According to the director’s estimates,”you have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. That’s your threshold. That’s your break even.”

With $2.9 billion, Cameron’s original 2009 film “Avatar” tops the current list of highest-grossing films worldwide (unadjusted for inflation). Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” is in second place with $2.7 million, and Cameron’s “Titanic” is still in third place with $2.1 billion. Cameron says that this means that if “Avatar: The Way of Water” wants to make money, it will have to beat “Star Wars: The Force Awakens, or “Avengers: Infinity War” ($2.05 billion) occupying the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

Unadjusted for inflation, only five movies have ever reached $2 billion worldwide. Moviegoing has been affected by the pandemic, but films like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (1.9 billion dollars) and “Top Gun: Maverick” ($1.4 billion) has made a lot of money, so “The Way of Water” has a chance.

Unadjusted for inflation, the original “Avatar” earned $785 million domestically and currently ranks fourth on the all-time U.S. box office chart. “Top Gun: Maverick” occupies the fifth position which has $716 million domestically.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” opens on December 16 in theaters.