James Cameron is officially raking in the big bucks, with Forbes reporting that the Avatar filmmaker has joined a very short list of filmmakers who’ve achieved billionaire status. The third of Cameron’s planned five Avatar installments, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is set to release in theaters this weekend—and the site reports that the film is likely to gross more than $2 billion and make Cameron at least $200 million more to add to his fortune. Cameron, 71, who has lived in New Zealand permanently since 2020, reached the milestone of $1.1 billion in net worth solely from proceeds from his previous blockbuster films, including The Terminator, Titanic, and the first two Avatar films. Forbes points out that the distinction sets Cameron apart from the short list of other billionaire filmmakers, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and Tyler Perry, who had mega-deals from studios or revenue from outside of Hollywood. Cameron himself has shied away from discussing his personal fortune—telling Puck’s Matt Belloni last month, “I wish I was a billionaire... The billionaire thing assumes certain deals that didn’t exist, one, and, two, that I’ve never spent a dime in 30 years.”
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