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Avatar is the highest-grossing movie of all time, and James Cameron’s sequel to that blockbuster occupies the third spot on that list in spite of the uninspired graphic design choice at the center of a famous Saturday Night Live sketch that apparently made him rethink his approach before deciding to stick to his guns.
By now, James Cameron has proven he knows how to make money at the box office, and while Avatar was a historically successful film upon its release in 2009, it didn’t really have a lasting impact on pop culture.
As a result, it was kind of strange to think Saturday Night Live would use it as a springboard when Ryan Gosling hosted an episode of the show in 2017, but it still served as the onus for “Papyrus,” the sketch where the actor bemoaned the movie had used a font usually reserved for hookah bars, Shakira merch, and off-brand teas for its title.
Prior to the release of Avatar: The Way of Water, the director admitted he’d seen the sketch but claimed he liked the font, although it does appear he had second thoughts before the marketing campaign for the sequel ramped up.
During a recent conversation with People, Cameron admitted he did a bit of soul-searching before deciding to stick with what had worked, saying:
“I mean, the thing is, we actually now had a dilemma on movie two. It’s like, ‘Are we going to keep the same font, the highest-grossing film in history, or are we going to change it?’ Mess with the formula.
It’s like, ‘F— it, we’re using the font. If Ryan gets his panties in a bunch over it, then so be it.”
It’s not a stretch to assume Gosling will host SNL at some point in the future, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if we get a sequel to the sketch as well.