James Cameron is the second-highest-grossing director of all time. Here's how he makes and spends his millions.
Gabbi Shaw
- James Cameron is one of the highest-grossing directors of all time.
- He's made three films that have crossed the $2 billion mark at the box office.
James Cameron, an Oscar-winning director, was one of the 10 highest earners in entertainment in 2022.
As Insider reported, Forbes compiled a list of the top 10 highest-earning entertainers in 2022. Cameron came in at No. 8, with $95 million in earnings last year. Most of that came from his giant payday for "Avatar: The Way of Water." The long-awaited sequel has made $2.2 billion at the box office.
The directing legend has earned three Oscars over the course of his career, all for "Titanic." He won best director, best picture (as a producer), and, as one of the film's editors, best film editing. He's been nominated for an additional four, with one pending for the 2023 ceremony for best picture for "Avatar: The Way of Water."
Most of his fortune comes from directing, writing, and producing three of the top four highest-grossing films of all time. They total $7.3 billion together.
Few people have the confidence of Cameron. Famously, he gave back his $8 million salary for his 1997 blockbuster "Titanic" when the film went over-budget, and he traded that for points on the back end, making a percentage of the profits instead.
That decision worked out for him — reportedly, he made $97 million just from the immense success of "Titanic," according to Deadline. And that was back in 2010, before two lucrative re-releases in 2012 and 2023. The 2012 re-release made $350 million, while this year's re-release has made $53 million so far.
Deadline also reported he made another $350 million from "Avatar's" unprecedented success at the box office, as well.
According to Forbes, Cameron has already made $95 million from "Avatar 2."
Cameron, 68, was a truck driver before making his directorial debut with "Piranha II: The Spawning" in 1982.
After getting his start in the art department on movie sets, he transitioned to directing with the sequel to "Piranha."
Since then, he's directed some of the most beloved films of all time: "The Terminator," "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," "Aliens," "The Abyss," "True Lies," and the three biggies, "Titanic," "Avatar," and "Avatar: The Way of Water."
That's his only film that's made less than $70 million at the box office. Now, his last three films have made over $2 billion each.
That puts him only behind Steven Spielberg in terms of box-office earnings.
Cameron has also founded three production companies: Lightstorm Entertainment, Digital Domain, and Earthship Productions.
Cameron founded Lightstorm, an independent production company, in 1990. In addition to producing his own movies, Lightstorm has also been behind films like Cameron's ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow's "Strange Days," Steven Soderbergh's "Solaris," Robert Rodriguez's "Alita: Battle Angel," and Tim Miller's "Terminator: Dark Fate."
He founded Digital Domain, a visual-effects company, three years later. Digital Domain has been used by all of Cameron's films, plus over 100 more like "Dune," various Marvel and DC movies and TV shows, "Ready Player One," some "Fast and Furious" films, "The Lord of the Rings," and more.
Lastly, he created Earthship Productions, which has been behind all of his documentaries about ocean conservation, like "Ghosts of the Abyss" and "Titanic: 20 Years Later with James Cameron."
He also helped develop the 3D Fusion Camera System, which has been used in many blockbusters.
Cameron and colleague Vince Pace developed the Fusion Camera System as a way to shoot in stereoscopic 3D — in other words, to shoot things with the illusion of depth.
This has changed the game for 3D movies, and the system has been used in plenty of movies since its invention in 2008, including "Life of Pi," "47 Ronin," "Hugo," "Avatar," and "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides."
In 2020, Cameron put his vineyard in British Columbia, Beaufort Vineyard and Estate Winery, up for sale for $5.6 million.
Cameron originally purchased the vineyard in 2013 for $2.7 million. Seven years later, it went on the market for $5.9 million before getting dropped to $5.6 million.
That's not the only real estate he's put on the market recently. When Cameron and his family moved to New Zealand full-time, he put his Malibu compound up for sale for $25 million. Half of it sold for $8.2 million in 2021.
The director moved to New Zealand full-time during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with his wife, Suzy Amis Cameron, after originally buying land in 2012.
When the move became permanent, Cameron began offloading some of his US real estate, including his Malibu compound that actually consists of two side-by-side estates. In 2020, the two properties went on sale for a combined $25 million.
By 2021, the smaller of the two houses had sold for $8.2 million. That property comes with a single-story Spanish-style mansion and guest house with a combined six bedrooms, six-and-a-half bathrooms, and 9,000 square feet. Cameron had purchased the home in 2003 for $4.4 million, meaning it sold for almost double.
He purchased the first, larger house in 1989 for $3.475 million.
In 2014, he also sold over 700 acres of land in southern California for $12 million to a land conservancy group.
Cameron owned 703 acres of the Santa Monica Mountains, the largest privately owned piece of the range. He originally put it on sale in 2007 for $25 million, before selling the land to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority for $12 million in 2014.
The county announced the land would be kept open and would be developed as a key part of the 70-mile Coastal Slope Trail, which runs from Los Angeles to Ventura.
He currently owns thousands of acres of land in New Zealand, where he and his family grow fruits, vegetables, and nuts. His original purchase cost him $20 million.
Until 2020, Cameron and his family sold their produce at their café and grocery store, Forest Food Organics in Greytown.
In addition to his land and farm, Cameron also injects money into the Kiwi economy by filming all of his movies there. "Avatar 2" and its upcoming sequels all filmed in New Zealand, giving work to 1,500 local crew members, according to Newshub.
"Man it was such a joyful experience to work and create there and I plan to make all my future films in New Zealand as well there, ongoing, so good on ya Kiwis," he told Newshub in 2022.
He originally started buying land in 2012, before continuously adding to his large amount of land as the years went on.
"I think as Kiwis born and raised here you can't truly appreciate how great you are. And sometimes it takes an outsider's voice to remind you," Cameron told the Sunday Star-Times of New Zealand residents in 2021.
Cameron and his wife, Suzy Amis Cameron, founded a food brand, Verdient Foods, which was acquired in 2020 by Ingredion Incorporated.
Cameron and his wife founded Verdient Foods in 2017. The brand offers plant-based proteins and was founded to support "changes needed in farming and industrial processes to make food production more sustainable and more profitable," according to Vegconomist.
In 2020, Ingredion Incorporated purchased the Camerons' final stake in Verdient for an undisclosed amount of money, giving Ingredion 100% ownership.
In terms of spending, Cameron has invested in the luxury submarine brand Triton Submarines, and he reportedly owns one himself. One can cost $3 million.
As anyone who knows anything about Cameron knows, the director loves the ocean, loves to deep-sea dive, and especially loves submarines. So, it's no surprise that Cameron is an investor in Triton Submarines, according to Curbed.
Besides the Deepsea Challenger (that he donated to science), which Cameron used to solo dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench — the first person to ever do that — Cameron reportedly owns at least one Triton, which costs millions of dollars.
He also helped in the design of a $20 million yacht with his organization OceanX.
Cameron and billionaire Ray Dalio teamed up in 2018 to create OceanX, which "will fund new research and exploration of the oceans along with media, such as documentary films and virtual reality content," according to CNBC.
In 2020, the 285-foot explorer yacht OceanXplorer was revealed, featuring a high-tech, Hollywood-style studio designed by Cameron, Yahoo reported. The company's website called it "the most advanced combined marine research and media vessel in existence." Its voyages can be seen on the National Geographic show "Mission OceanX," coming soon.
Cameron is a big motorcycle enthusiast, and he owns at least three Harley Davidsons.
During the "Avatar 2" press cycle, many fans were quick to point out that Cameron was frequently seen wearing a Fox Racing shirt. Fox Racing is an extreme-sports, protective-equipment, and lifestyle-clothing brand that many motocross fans love.
Why was he wearing this? Because Cameron is actually a huge motocross and motorcycle enthusiast. You can see Cameron and his friend Arnold Schwarzenegger proudly standing beside their motorcycles here.
He also owns a Rolex Submariner, which can cost up to $43,000.
"The Submariner has been my constant companion throughout all of my work as a deep ocean explorer, and my film career. This watch represents the things I aspire to be — strong and dependable over the long haul, striving for excellence but understated, classy but not glitzy or gauche, never ostentatious but never anonymous. And it loves the ocean — it loves the water and is not afraid of pressure. Like me," Cameron told Rolex in 2016.
But more than anything, Cameron is using his wealth for conservation efforts of both the land and sea.
"I tend to be pessimistic about political systems and about human systems in general, but I'm optimistic about human beings. We're resourceful. When our back's against the wall, I believe we can team together to come up with the solutions necessary. And I believe we will be willing to make the changes to our lifestyle that we're going to need to make," he told CNN in 2021.
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