New York — Thirteen years after James Cameron plunged moviegoers into the cosmic world of “Avatar,” the distant moon Pandora has finally begun to orbit.
Cameron’s industrial complex “Avatar” has been spinning very fast for some time. Production on the upcoming upcoming sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” began in 2017. But after moving through half a decade of release dates, Cameron’s sci-fi saga is poised to hit movie screens once again and transport willing travelers once again, in 3-D. , to the land of the Na’vi.
For the visionary filmmaker of “Titanic” and “The Terminator,” the relaunch of “Avatar,” Cameron said in a recent interview from Wellington, New Zealand, is “a big bet.” A third “Avatar” is in post-production, and production has begun in phase four. It smashed the $2.8 billion box office record set by “Avatar,” making the upcoming “Avatar” Fleet an off-the-beaten-path bet. But a lot has changed since the original version was released, when Netflix was still renting DVDs by mail and Cameron worked for 20th Century Fox.
To whet movie-goers’ appetites ahead of the three-hour “Avatar: The Way of Water” debut on December 16 — and remind them of the movie world they may have lost touch with — Walt Disney will relaunch Friday’s “Avatar” in a remastered HDR version, 4K, he says is “better than it looked before.”
It’s the opening start to Cameron’s ambitious plan to paint the greatest sci-fi story yet, evoking a cinematic experience once again that, he says, “you simply can’t have at home.” Taking a break from all the “Avatar” games, Cameron talked about rewatching the original, his anticipation of “Water Road” and why he almost quit the work of “Avatar.”
Notes have been modified for clarity and brevity.
AP: Does Avatar seem a long time ago to you?
Cameroon: It feels like yesterday at times and obviously it seems like more than a decade at other times. Time passed quickly. I’ve been doing all kinds of interesting things. Deep ocean research. Construction submarines. Write four epic films. We are now done with “Avatar 2” and we are in the middle of the process of publishing on “Avatar 3”. So “Avatar” was never far from my mind. I come back to it constantly, the redesign obviously makes it even better than it was before. I just live on Pandora now.
AP: When you came back to watch “Avatar,” what did it look like to you?
Camera: I see a lot of good work by a lot of good people in terms of production design, visual effects, groundbreaking steps that were made at that time in capturing the performance of the actors, and the great work of the actors. It was hard to live up to that. We set the bar high for ourselves at the time and had to go that far this time with the new films. I remind the VFX team all the time: “Look at the bugs in the woods in the first movie. We had better bugs!”
The Associated Press: Going to the movies has picked up this summer, but there’s been a lull in the late summer that a re-release of “Avatar” might help take off. How do you see the validity of the play now?
Cameroon: He has shown resilience that I don’t think we expected. The epidemic, rightly, frightened everyone. There was a period of time when you were risking your life to go to the movies. People did it anyway. Now, we feel like we’re over the hump or at least it’s a manageable problem. We are seeing a re-appearance in cinemas. It’s not what we used to be. Broadcasting took a bite. The epidemic has taken a bite. We are likely 20, 25% less than we were in pre-pandemic. I think it’s going to be a pretty long tail to this thing before we go back to where we were before. We must redouble the spirit of appearance.
AP: Over the years, some have argued that “Avatar,” despite its status as the highest-grossing movie of all time, hasn’t stuck to the culture in the way you’d expect. Do these arguments bother you?
Camera: I think that’s true for a specific reason, which is that we didn’t immediately follow it up with another movie in two or three years, and another movie in two or three years. We haven’t played Marvel. We are playing a longer game here. “The Avatar” isn’t going anywhere, it’s just not being followed up with a constant barrage of keeping it in the public eye and the public consciousness, which you have to do. Taking a lesson from that, we basically designed four sequels so that if “Avatar 2” worked, we could follow it with a regular rhythm – two years, maybe three years at most between “3” and “4.” It will be in the public consciousness more and more regularly, but only if people embrace “Avatar 2”.
This 2009 image released by 20th Century Films shows director James Cameron on the set of “Avatar.”
Zach Felman / Twentieth Century Films via AP
AP: Your films have made over $6 billion. I imagine you’re not a filmmaker who gets nervous before a movie opens.
Cameroon: I bet I do. Anyone who says they don’t get nervous before a movie drops is a liar (expletive).
AP: A lot of riding on the Water Trail.
Camera: Yes, it’s a big play. It’s a big bet. We won’t know where we are until the end of the second or third week. The success of the first movie – we had a very good opening at $75 million. But slots dwarf that by two or even three these days. Even if we had a stellar opening, we wouldn’t really know where we were for a few weeks because it was return visits on our first visit. People wanted to participate. If we get that back, we’ll probably be on solid ground.
AP: I think the odds are in your favor.
Cameroon: Nobody knows. The market has changed. Twenty-five percent can be the entire margin. Making a lot of money is one thing, and making a profit is another. We will not continue to make films that lose money even though they look good and make a lot of money. This is kind of a wait and see, let’s put it out there and see if people embrace it.
AP: “Avatar” was particularly rich in environmental subtext. In the 13 years since, things have gotten a lot worse for the climate and the health of the planet. How much was that on your mind while making the supplements?
Camera: Very often, even to the point where I vehemently debated myself and my wife whether I should stop making films and work on sustainability issues. But we were able to do it in parallel with the filmmaking process. We’re making all of our sustainability efforts — not to say as a side hustle, but in parallel. I put as much effort into it as I did in the film industry.
However, the new “Avatar” films no longer resemble a lecture on climate or ecology more than they did in the first. The first was an adventure. I captured you on a character level, on a storytelling level. I think the subtext is a useful way to look at it. It is there but it is not what drives the story. We have this in mind with the new films. Yes, “Avatar: The Way of Water” is about oceans and our relationship to the oceans and the animals that live in them. But it is driven by personality.
Associated Press: “Avatar: The Way of Water” will bring the rendering back in 3D and display high frame rate footage, both of which have differing opinions on them. What do you think is the biggest technology leap in the last 13 years?
Cameroon: In terms of presentation, we’re composing in high dynamic range, which I think is very important. Projection in this field is much brighter now than it was a decade ago, and much better for 3D viewing. We use high frame rates wisely in the 3D synthesis process because people become more sensitive to rapid lateral movement. Your brain is more sensitive, so we solved that by wisely applying the higher frame rate here and there throughout the movie. All this in the service of making it a better viewing experience.
I don’t think anyone should go see a movie because it’s composed in a certain way. That’s just part of our showmanship. I think the reasons for watching this movie are the same as the reasons for watching the first movie. Enter a scientist. You become completely immersed in it. It feels like it’s surrounding you and it becomes still there, and it stays there. You go on that trip. Of course, in the new movie, it’s a little bit longer because we have more characters and more story to serve. I think people are very story-driven. When they get a cast of characters they love and share their problems, they’ll follow them for dozens of hours through several years of limited series. I’m not worried about that part of it.
“Avatar” is produced by Disney, the parent company of ABC.
Copyright © 2022 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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