‘The King of the world’ – James Cameron has finally spoken up about the MCU’s latest blockbuster phenomenon, Avengers: Endgame. The film that touched the $2 billion-mark in a record 11 days went past Cameron’s 1998 blockbuster, Titanic. The film directed by the Russo brothers, has already earned an estimated $2.27 billion since its worldwide release on April 26. A box office record that has stood for more than two decades, Cameron made the occasion special by sharing a beautiful graphic congratulating the team of Marvel.
The graphic sees the ‘A’ symbol of Avengers sinking the Titanic, like an ice berg would. A note below reads “…you’ve shown that the movie industry is not only alive and well, but bigger than ever!”
— James Cameron (@JimCameron) May 9, 2019
As heartwarming the gesture is, it isn’t Cameron’s invention. The Titanic filmmaker is merely following tradition set by Star Wars creator, George Lucas. When Titanic became the highest grossing film by going past Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Lucas booked a whole page advertisement in Variety magazine and printed an illustration congratulating James. The illustration showed all Star Wars characters aboard the Titanic, as the ship sank.
This ‘tradition’ was informally invented by Lucas’ good friend and renowned filmmaker, Steven Spielberg. When Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back went past Spielberg’s Jaws, he wrote a short letter congratulating his good friend with a word of advice – to be ‘worthy’ of the throne. Lucas reciprocated his good friend’s gesture when E.T emerged as the highest-grossing film of that time.
Lucasfilm’s Kathy Kennedy continues the tradition that began between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, who sent letters to congratulate the other on breaking their previous record#StarWars #InfinityWar pic.twitter.com/tpaaaKE9I7
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) May 1, 2018
Cameron’s records have stood more than two decades, but this ‘tradition’ was momentarily revived when Lucasfilm executive congratulated Avengers: Infinity War for the biggest opening weekend in Hollywood history.
With Cameron complimenting Marvel and congratulating Kevin Feige and his team for the monster success of Endgame, things have come full circle. It’s been a lonely journey at the top for James Cameron, who had (till recently) made the two highest-grossing films of Hollywood.
And now, Cameron plans on releasing his 3-part sequel to Avatar, which claims to have some ‘game-changer’ technology at work. Avatar was a massive success in the way it introduced digital projection to theatres around the world, and the 3D format like no film before that. This only serves more impetus to Cameron’s Avatar sequels, that will be expected to match the Marvel mania. All eyes on December, 2021.
