James Cameron becomes only fifth billionaire film director prior to 'Avatar: Fire And Ash' release

Days prior to the release of the third film in the Avatar universe, Avatar: Fire And Ash, director James Cameron has officially joined the billionaire’s club, with an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion, according to Forbes.

This makes the 71-year-old only the fifth filmmaker to achieve billionaire status, alongside George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Tyler Perry.

Forbes notes that the director of The Terminator, Aliens, Titanic and the Avatar films is the only filmmaker to have acquired most of his billionaire status through his movie earnings, which have earned almost $9 billion in the global box office collectively.

Cameron remains the only director to have made three films that each earned more than $2bn worldwide: Titanic (1997), Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). Avatar still holds the title of the highest-grossing film in history with $2.9bn worldwide; The Way of Water is the third highest-grossing film with $2.3bn.

The director’s financial status is expected to grow further with Avatar: Fire and Ash, which Forbes projects could personally earn him at least $200 million.

The third chapter in the Avatar series is expected to be Hollywood’s highest grossing film of 2025, as it is considered a lock to gross at least $1 billion worldwide.

The plan is for two more Avatar films to be released in 2029 and 2031.

Avatar: Fire and Ash hits cinemas on 19 December. Stay tuned to Euronews Culture for our review, out on Friday.