Avatar is the biggest film franchise that no-one really cares about

I’m not going to ask who the main actor is because it hardly seems fair a) because he’s under the digital makeup of full CGI and b) it’s Sam Worthington, an actor who has the unfortunate ability to be forgettable even as you’re watching him. He would’ve made a perfect George Smiley.

And yet James Cameron’s 2009 science fiction epic is the highest-grossing motion picture ever made, taking only 19 days to pass the billion-dollar mark in box office ticket sales before reaching its current total of $2.9 billion. And that’s before we factor in merchandising, ancillary DVD sales (when DVDs were still a thing), games, colouring books, toys and lunch boxes, not to mention tie-ins. 

Even if we adjust for inflation, Avatar comes second only to Gone with the Wind. 

You remember Gone with the Wind? Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, “As God is my witness, I’ll never go hungry again”, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”, “After all, tomorrow is another day.” I bet some of you can even hum Max Steiner’s theme music, or would instantly recognise it if you heard it.

I don’t want to go after James Horner. With the obvious exception of John Williams, no soundtrack composer has created truly memorable themes in recent years. Melody has been surrendered in favour of a more ambient approach. Listen to the ubiquitous work of Hans Zimmer.

My point is larger. As big as Avatar is and was, it has not produced a lasting impact in terms of legacy. This is not a hot take. Far from it. 

In 2014, the critic Scott Mendelsohn was already noticing that the film had been largely forgotten when compared to the obsessive fanbases that grew around franchises such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. When the first sequel Avatar: Way of the Water was set to be released in 2022, many wondered if the audience had moved on to the extent that Cameron could be facing an expensive flop. 

But you’d be a special kind of idiot to bet against James Cameron in the box office stakes. The downfall of the self-proclaimed King of the World has been predicted before Terminator 2, Titanic and the original Avatar and each film surpassed the last in commercial success. Avatar 2 grossed less than the original, but at $2.3 billion was the highest-grossing film of the year. 

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There is no reason to believe the newly released third film Avatar: Fire and Ash won’t perform as well, or knowing Cameron even better. A fourth and fifth film will be released in 2029 and 2031, at which point Donald Trump will be 85 years old, apropos nothing.     

And it is also important to note that Avatar is not a bad film by any means. It’s actually a really good film, especially if you’re a fan of old-fashioned science fiction. 

In fact, if you’re a fan of Ursula K LeGuin’s The Word for World is Forest or Alan Dean Foster’s MidWorld or Harry Harrison’s Deathworld, you might be happy to see essentially the same worlds and stories brought to the screen, with a splash of Dances with Wolves. Watching the film is an immersive and largely joyful experience, and it was received positively by critics who compared it favorably to the original Star Wars. 

But it has somehow slid from the cultural conversation. I can’t think of a single line I’ve ever heard quoted, for instance. 

Given the box office, we must all have gone to see it. But what happened? Did we have our minds wiped with brain rubbers? One problem is that James Cameron does not write good dialogue. 

“Draw me like one of your French girls” is a memorable line, but because it’s risible. I checked out the quotes section on Avatar’s IMDb page. The first one read: “Neytiri calls me skxawng. It means ‘moron.’” I guess we’ll always have Paris.

Jake Sully (that’s what he’s called!) is a forgettable name. Selfridge, Grace, Neytiri, Grace Augustine, and Trudy Chacon are all characters played by actors Zoe Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, and Sigourney Weaver, but who plays which? The villain – surely here you can go batshit with a name – is called Colonel Quaritch, played by the glare that is Steven Lang. 

On one thing you can be sure: the technical achievements which Cameron pioneered have had a lasting impact. Well, yes and no. 

The CGI and motion capture technology Cameron was investing in and developing to make his films inspired rapturous praise from Peter Jackson, whose Wellington-based company Weta was a core part of the filmmaking, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Whether you think this is a good thing or not, depends on how much you feel Spielberg’s Ready Player One (2018) was worth the bother. Or the increased CGI-ness of The Hobbit trilogy. As Jeff Goldblum says in Jurassic Park: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” You see, there’s a quote I remember. 

The biggest impact was probably 3D, which had a surge in popularity. But when was the last time you wore the goggles to watch a film? Was it Avatar: Way of the Water in 2022? And the next one is probably going to be Fire and Ash, right? And while we’re talking about memorability, can’t Cameron give someone else the job of naming his films? True Lies, Way of the Water, Fire and Ash. What’s next, Avatar: Chalk and Cheese? 

I know I’m on a hiding to nothing and I’m about to be well and truly ratioed by the box office, but as someone else once said: frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.