Avatar Actress Believed Film Was Flop, But It Was Just Too Early To Tell

It's been over a decade since the release of James Cameron's Avatar, and the film still holds its place as one of the highest-grossing films of all time. But back when it was first released in 2009, not everyone was convinced that it would be a success. Even Avatar star Zoe Saldana had her doubts. In an interview with Variety, Saldana recently opened up about her initial thoughts on the film when she first saw it. “I thought we were going to flop," she said. "I thought it was too ambitious." Saldana's concerns weren't unfounded; after all, Avatar had an estimated budget of $237 million—a record-breaking amount at the time—and its revolutionary use of motion capture technology made some industry insiders skeptical that audiences would embrace it. However, despite these worries, Saldana said that there was something special about the movie from day one. "There was something about [Avatar] that I felt like I hadn’t seen before," she explained. "The story resonated with me in a way that I just knew people were going to be moved by this movie." And sure enough, audiences around the world fell in love with Avatar and its groundbreaking visuals and emotional story—so much so that Cameron is currently working on four sequels to continue exploring Pandora and its inhabitants' stories further. As for Saldana? She couldn't be more proud to have been part of such an iconic movie franchise: “I feel really blessed to have been part of this journey," she said.