Can you remember back to 2007 when some eyes were agog over the news that James Cameron's initial budget for Avatar was $195 million? Jette imagined how many features a filmmaker like John Sayles could make with that, and personally I wondered just how high the ultimate cost would go -- especially when Spider-Man 3 had just broken the bank by throwing hundreds of millions into the production pot.

But when the numbers kept zooming skyward for the epic production, did you ever imagine that Avatar would make Cameron enough to completely self-finance an overpriced film on his own?

Deadline reports that James Cameron has made $350 million on Avatar, due to his involvement as writer, producer, and director. That's enough that Cameron would remake even the most expensive production, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Spidey 3 was second). It's $150 million more than Titanic cost to make. Of course, it's not as surprising given the context of the film, which has raked in $2.7 billion worldwide, and had absolutely killer DVD sales just on the 2D version, let alone the upcoming 3D version. Oh, and that box office take is going to go up even more. Fox has announced that a "Special Edition" version of the film with 8 minutes of new footage will hit screens on August 27th.

I can only hope that he uses even a small percentage of the money to foster future filmmakers. Just think: With even $50 million, he can do a lot for the future of Hollywood. Even Cameron started small -- Piranha Part Two came a few years before The Terminator. Though I would also imagine some frugality -- if that word even applies here -- is in order because the final two films of Cameron's outer space arc have huge shoes to fill.

Then again, maybe he'll just walk over to Disney and buy Miramax all by himself. $350 million seems to be the magic number these days.