James Cameron's $350M Avatar Payday 8.02K Richard Lawson 07/09/10 09:20AM Filed to: success stories success stories James Cameron Avatar Defamer Money Riches Before his humble blue-hued space opera, poor James Cameron was rattling a tin cup around, dancing for nickels to buy sweet, sweet sangawiches. But now he's rich as a king! The director stands to make nearly half-a-billion bones from Avatar.