James Cameron & Avatar

[Mitch Henessey]

Avatar 2, 3, and 4?

After the absurd success of Titanic in 1997 and 1998, it took director James Cameron more than a decade to get around to his next feature film, Avatar, which debuted to more absurd success in 2009 and 2010. We must always admire Cameron’s ability to deliver original properties that are both commercial hits and critical favorites. But according to the director, he’s done with the worldbuilding aspect of filmmaking:

“Last year I basically completely disbanded my production company’s development arm. So I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar, Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4.”

Hit the jump for Cameron’s full explanation.

avatar 2 posterCameron visited China recently during the Beijing Film Festival, where he spoke with the New York Times. Here’s the full quote of interest.

“I’ve divided my time over the last 16 years over deep ocean exploration and filmmaking. I’ve made two movies in 16 years, and I’ve done eight expeditions. Last year I basically completely disbanded my production company’s development arm. So I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar, Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4, and I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them. I’m not interested in taking scripts. And that all sounds I suppose a little bit restricted, but the point is I think within the Avatar landscape I can say everything I need to say that I think needs to be said, in terms of the state of the world and what I think we need to be doing about it. And doing it in an entertaining way. And anything I can’t say in that area, I want to say through documentaries, which I’m continuing.”

Though deliberate and definitive, Cameron doesn’t need to stick to the plan he lays out here. Cameron may very well find that he has something that neither non-fiction nor the Na’vi can address. I pray he eventually remembers how much he wants to adapt the manga Battle Angel, because it sounds good-crazy and Cameron is the only person who could get it made. Alas, the director is happy to revert to his second career as a documentarian often enough, making five in the last decade. In his next project, Deepest Challenge, Cameron takes the viewer down to the deepest point of the Earth’s oceans. Speaking selfishly, as someone who really likes his features and has never seen a Cameron documentary, it is disheartening to see the ultimate populist with the power and wealth to make any movie impose such insular restrictions on his goals.

Given the recent news that Avatar 2 will probably not be ready for its planned December 2014 release date, Cameron updated us on where they are at in developing the sequels:james cameron avatar 2 sequel

“We’ve spent the last year and a half on software development and pipeline development. The virtual production methodology was extremely prototypical on the first film. As then, no one had ever done it before and we didn’t even know for two and half years into it and $100 million into it if it was going to work. So we just wanted to make our lives a whole lot easier so that we can spend a little more of our brainpower on creativity. It was a very, very uphill battle on the first film. So we’ve been mostly working on the tool set, the production pipeline, setting up the new stages in Los Angeles, setting up the new visual effects pipeline in New Zealand, that sort of thing. And, by the way, writing. We haven’t gotten to the design stage yet. That’ll be the next.”

Cameron has said that Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 are one script, “not really a trilogy, but just an overall character arc.” They will reportedly be shot back to back. Depending on when Cameron finishes, I wonder if Fox is committed to a December release for both films, or if they might try the summer.

It’s not related, but I think this quote deserves an excerpt:

“There are filmmakers that come along that are quite iconoclastic. And that I’m in awe of, frankly. Zack Snyder’s 300. I think that was a really revolutionary film, because it was a completely deconstructive form of filmmaking in a way that nobody had done before, other than maybe Robert Rodriguez.”

Don’t worry, if you read the full interview, he circles back to praise “the old guard… Spielberg, Kubrick, and all that sort of thing.”

Link to the article: http://collider.com/james-cameron-avatar-2-3-4/164371/?_r=true

Link to interview with James Cameron: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.c...kers-censorship-and-potential-co-productions/

The future Avatar films will make a ton of money, and James Cameron obviously sees big dollar signs for the future. After all, Avatar (2009) is still sitting in the #1 spot on the all time worldwide box office grosses list, and Cameron will continue to rake in more cash with the sequels. But he's going to extraordinary lengths to stretch this franchise. He's going to milk Avatar for a very long time, and I just can't escape this feeling, when I think about the possible fourth film.

Despite my personal feelings of Avatar being overrated, you can't deny the popularity of the original film. Avatar achieved great financial success and critical praise, and James Cameron produced another a global phenomenon. Moviegoers will flock to theaters for the sequels, and Avatar could change Cameron's legacy. Avatar received tremendous praise upon its release, and Cameron's latest film is praised as an sci-fi/action classic.

James Cameron's legacy as a great director was secured long before Avatar. This is the same man, who brought us Aliens, the first two Terminator films, True Lies, and Titanic. But Avatar will become a film series, and Cameron's new pet project could add more prestige to his outstanding resumé.

Cameron's career features a handful of exceptional films, but where could Avatar fit in? When it's all said and done, Avatar could outrank Cameron's list of past films in terms of popularity and quality. After all, Avatar is the #1 grossing film of all time, and Cameron will work hard to make improvements for the future. Now, if he could just replace that emotionless drone Sam Worthington, then everything would be okay. Yeah, I know it probably won't happen, but I can still have some hope. Anyway, The Terminator, Judgement Day, Aliens, and Titanic all have their own pedestals in cinema history, but Avatar is just getting started. The Avatar franchise is loaded with some great potential, and this film series could challenge Cameron's past films for bragging rights and supremacy. Avatar could overthrow anything in Cameron's career for the spot of the #1 favorite, and It wouldn't be foolish to think this way, especially when you consider the success of the first film.

And could the conclusion of the Avatar film series put James Cameron over the top as the greatest director of all time? Cameron directed two films (Titanic and Avatar) that reached the #1 spot on the highest grossing films of all time list, and Cameron has delivered some great memorable experiences as a director. Cameron can dominate the box office, and produce high quality films at the same time. Michael Bay's movies are known for raking in obscene amounts of cash, but Bay usually comes up short in the quality department. Cameron's longevity and consistency in the film industry is admirable, and he can always wow audiences with something different. Seriously, can you think of one truly bad James Cameron film? You can search and search, but you won't be able to find that one true stinker in Cameron's list of films. Cameron has piled up a list of impressive accolades throughout his career, and he could be remembered as the greatest director of all time, when Avatar finally reaches a conclusion.

What are your thoughts on the future of Avatar?

Will James Cameron be remembered as the greatest director of all time?

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

What are your thoughts on the future of Avatar?

The sequels will make money, lots of it. Will they surpass the original takings? I'm going to say... no.

Avatar was marketed as THE 3D curtain-raiser. The story could afford to be padded generic fare, the characters personas could afford to be cartoony; from the fearsome, scarred gung-ho military commander, to the peace-lovin', short-wearin' maternal scientist lady, to the warrior who slowly appreciates the weird tribe and becomes their leader. None of that mattered, the selling point was the look of the film.

Floating pieces of land, familiar but re-imagined creatures both human and animal all brought to the screen in different levels of visual dimensions.

Since Avatar, the 3D craze has continued, yet not been surpassed. Films like Toy Story 3 and Avengers were released in 3D, yet the format added little to nothing to them. The first two Toy Story's were greatly received for the evolution of what Computer Generated animation had become, but at the heart of the films were the story and characters which in some ways negated the CG aspect. The third installment was an emotional conclusion to the trilogy thanks to the story-arc of the characters. The presentation of the story on-screen was of little consequence.

Avengers is getting great reviews and making a lot of money. No doubt the increased ticket price for seeing it in 3D has boosted it's takings but again, the presentation of the film is a minor aspect. The characters are well-drawn out, the story hits its beats when it should and it is above all, a fun film.

The next Avatars wont have the same impact that the first one have (bold statement I know) and will be a lot more reliant on the evolution of the story. Cameron has only followed up on one of his own films (Terminator 2) and has a 100% success rate, but whereas The Terminator was a low-budget and at times guerilla-esque exercise that took advantage of what was imagined more than what was shown, it seems a much bigger task for Cameron to expand upon what he has already done with Avatar.

Will James Cameron be remembered as the greatest director of all time?

No. He is very good at his craft and is certainly an influential director, but I do not think he will be considered better than a Hitchcock, Scorsese or Spielberg. He may very well end up being the most profitable director, but if we are to tie box office success to directorial skill then I've got three words for ya.

Spoiler

Michael fucking Bay.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

No. He is very good at his craft and is certainly an influential director, but I do not think he will be considered better than a Hitchcock, Scorsese or Spielberg. He may very well end up being the most profitable director, but if we are to tie box office success to directorial skill then I've got three words for ya.

Spoiler

Michael fucking Bay.

But that's what I'm getting at, Dowds. James Cameron can create successful mainstream box office hits, and deliver high quality at the same time. The same thing can't be said about Bay. His films do clean up at the box office (most notably Transformers), but Bay is a one dimensional hack, who can't match Cameron's talent. Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys II, and Revenge Of The Fallen? Bay creates memorable stinkers, while Cameron creates unforgettable epic blockbusters. Titanic won elven Oscars and Avatar was nominated for nine, but Bay's MTV Movie Awards can't measure up to the Oscars, because the MTV movie awards have no credibility and their awards are a complete joke.

Cameron has achieved some impressive accolades throughout his career. His legacy is filled with some great films, but Bay will be remembered as the guy, who could've had a more successful career directing rock music videos or TV commercials.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Yeh, I skipped over the original part you mentioned about Bay before, my apologies!

I guess Cameron's gaps between films is what keeps him out of my mind when thinking about all-time greats. Sure, Malick can take decades between films yet still be considered one of the most influential directors but I think he has a much more powerful mystique and unique way of viewing the world and of film-making. Cameron's focus on the vast majority of his films, has been on man's relationship with technology, or rather, the celebration and danger of what man and technology can create; Titanic and Terminator are united by this theme.

Spielberg all but created the summer blockbuster tradition with Jaws, Scorsese can create some heinous villains you still have to watch then switch gears to produce a musical documentary or even a children's film, Kubrick translated his perfectionist personality into his films on screen... but I don't know if Cameron has that extra something to take him up a notch. It may well be that he will be considered amongst the very top, top directors when he retires, but for now, despite his high hit and success rate, I just don't see him at that level.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I speak as a fan of the film when I say this, but Avatar WAS overrated. Still.... one cannot argue with the gargantuan success it was in the financial sense. I did really enjoy the film and have watched it many times.... I just do not feel it is "the best movie of all time". It just happens to be the most financially successful. Given how cool the first film was, overrated or not, I cannot wait for the sequels. Cameron is smart to focus completely on the Avatar sequels. If he makes nothing but Avatar sequels for the rest of his career, he will still make a fortune.

The first film alone made nearly 3 billion dollars. Fans will flock in large numbers to see the sequels, so it will be interesting to see what happens. I'm very excited but I maintain the opinion that he and his films are overrated. Financially success does not always equal superiority. Avatar is not THE best film, and Titanic sure as hell isn't the second best. Avatar 2, 3, and 4 are likely going to be amazing films if they come anywhere near meeting expectations set by the first.

 

[Alastor]

Avatar is overrated in my opinion because they chickened out of really making it a memorable film by sticking to a eco-friendly and romance storyline as the main focus. The opportunity to explore further the dilemma of the 'good guys' in betraying their own race to save a foreign land was marginalized for a more crowd-friendly beastality love story. The token casting of a tough female pilot pale in comparisons to Cameron's earlier portrayal of strong female characters too. The idea of any intention by humanity to attain immortality with the avatar programme wasn't discussed in favour of a braveheart/LOTR story.

Avatar in my opinion is a good but not great movie that drew the crowd due to Cameron's earlier work. Women flock to it due to Titanic. Men watched it because he was the guy that made Terminator. Sci-fi guys watched it because of Aliens