Forbes report reveals that Avatar: The Way of Water resulted in “at least” a $95 million payday for Cameron, according to industry insiders. This is enough to land the director on the list of the highest-paid entertainers of the year, encompassing film, television, and music. Cameron ranks eighth on the list and is the only director in the top ten other than Tyler Perry, who is also an actor and studio mogul, and came in at third with $175 million made in the past year.

The main reason Cameron was able to make almost $100 million from Avatar: The Way of Water is because of a “back-end-heavy” deal with the studio that awards him with bonuses for crossing certain box office thresholds. With Avatar: The Way of Water sitting at $2.214 billion grossed worldwide to date, the sequel has passed numerous thresholds worked into the director’s deal, although there are likely many more to go considering the report specifies he’s made “at least” $95 million. Around the time of the original Avatar‘s release, it was reported that Cameron made $350 million from the original movie.