Avatar: The Way of Water director James Cameron has admitted the upcoming sequel would need to be the "third or fourth highest-grossing film in history" to turn a profit.

James Cameron says The Way of Water was very expensive to make, though he didn't share an exact figure to support or refute claims that the production budget was around $250 million.

The original Avatar movie currently sits at the top of the worldwide box office chart with $2.9 billion.

Cameron previously indicated that the box office performance of The Way of Water and the as-yet-untitled Avatar 3 will ultimately determine whether the fourth and fifth Avatar movies end up getting made.

Avatar: The Way of Water is set to hit theatres on December 16, 2022 and Avatar 3 is due out in 2024.

[Source: IGN]