James Cameron Cameron's "Titanic" and "Avatar" are the two highest-grossing films of all time at $2.19 billion and $2.78 billion respectively. Cameron also holds the distinction of having directed the first two of the four films in history to gross over $2 billion worldwide (the later two being "" and ""). In March 2011, he was named Hollywood's top earner by "Vanity Fair", with estimated 2010 earnings of $257 million. In October 2013, a new species of frog "Pristimantis jamescameroni" from Venezuela was named after him in recognition of his efforts in environmental awareness, in addition to his public promotion of veganism.
Titanic (1997 film) hoping for a long-term relationship with Cameron, they gave him a greenlight. Cameron convinced Fox to promote the film based on the publicity afforded by shooting the "Titanic" wreck itself, and organized several dives to the site over a period of two years. "My pitch on that had to be a little more detailed," said Cameron. "So I said, 'Look, we've got to do this whole opening where they're exploring the "Titanic" and they find the diamond, so we're going to have all these shots of the ship." Cameron stated, "Now, we can either do them with elaborate models and