As we detailed extensively in our Biggest Entertainment Stories Of 2022 & What’s Next feature from late last year, while riding high for years and seemingly the future of the film and television industry, the bubble burst on streaming last year. The shortest version of that story? Netflix stock tumbled in early 2022, and then in April, the streamer announced it had lost subscribers for the first time in more than a decade, its stock plunged heavily, and the company quickly scrambled to go to an ad-model-tier subscription model. But there was a fear and ripple effect throughout Hollywood, as Wall Street and investors seemingly lost confidence in streaming, an ad-freeze began, and streamers like HBO Max started canceling shows left, right, and center to save money (though theirs is a slightly different pickle about all the debt they have).
This brings us to James Cameron, who was on Kim Master’s The Business podcast this week talking about all things “Avatar: The Way Of Water.” It was certainly an interesting conversation but conducted before the film hit theaters and became the number-one-grossing film of 2022. One of his key takeaways—which proves to be correct yet again—is that ‘Avatar’ movies are not about opening weekends but the slow and steady long-haul race. Cameron also said that the film would have to rely on repeat…
