20 Movies That Took HUGE Risks (And NAILED It)

6. Basically Everything About It - Avatar

There's no denying that James Cameron's Avatar is one of the riskiest movies of all time, because even accepting Cameron's enormous successes as a filmmaker, many doubted that he could deliver the goods with an entirely new IP centered around, in the words of many at the time, "blue cat people."

With a $237 million budget - north of Titanic's $200 million - it's one of the most expensive films ever, bet all its chips on 3D technology, and did it all as a sci-fi movie, a genre which historically proven hit-or-miss with audiences.

Even with the success of Titanic, many simply found the potential for failure too overwhelming for Cameron this time, only for him to once again prove the nay-sayers wrong.

While Avatar's story wasn't much to write home about, its lush visuals, overall world-building, and strong performances from Zoe Saldana and Stephen Lang made it one of the most unforgettable cinematic experiences of the last 20 years.

And of course, it went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, sitting at an eye-watering $2.92 billion to date, proving Cameron's unique penchant for drawing in mass audiences.