James Cameron, famed director-turned household name after the success of Avatar, wants to hold 3D movies to a high standard. So high, in fact, that he’ll go out of his way to insult 3D movies which aren’t up to the same standard, apparently, as Avatar.

Cameron was uncomplimentary of Piranha 2 in a recent Vanity Fair interview, saying “I tend almost never to throw other films under the bus, but [Piranha 2] is exactly an example of what we should not be doing in 3D. Because it just cheapens the medium and reminds you of the bad 3D horror films from the 70s and 80s, like Friday the 13th 3D.” Cameron previously worked on the movie, but not for long. He explained: “I worked on Piranha 2 for a few days and got fired off of it; I don’t put it on my official filmography. So there’s no sort of fond connection for me whatsoever.”

But producer Mark Canton isn’t about to let the insult go by. He fired back on Tuesday with this: “Cameron consistently celebrates himself out as though he is a team of one. His comments are ridiculous, self-serving and insulting to those of us who are not caught up in serving his ego and his rhetoric.”

Ouch.