EMPIRE 2022 PREVIEW
AVATAR 2
JAMES CAMERON’S AVATAR BECAME THE BIGGEST FILM EVER, BUT, SAYS PRODUCER JON LANDAU, THAT WA S MERELY THE BEGINNING...
OUT 16 DEC
James Cameron directs Joel David Moore, as Norm Spellman, on set.
AVATAR OWNED 2009. James Cameron’s blue-people blockbuster ushered in an era of technological change, both in production (performance capture) and exhibition (a boom in 3D) to the tune of $2.847 billion, making it the highest-grossing film in the world. But more than number-crunching, it became a potent reminder of the joys of the big-screen experience (it’s a crime in 17 US states not to use the word “immersive” when writing about it), so much so that the ‘Avatar Blues’ — fans becoming depressed because they couldn’t actually visit the verdant world of Pandora — became a legitimate concern. Yet it’s been 12 years, and Cameron’s clutch of sequels have yet to appear.
If you’re concerned a decade’s wait means the director might have missed the moment, Avatar 2 producer Jon Landau has a gentle reminder for you. “Jim has done two sequels in his career, Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” he begins. “I would argue that those lived up to, if not surpassed, the original movies. Jim could have easily said, ‘I’m just gonna do one sequel to Avatar.’ But he’s going to commit this many years of his life doing it because he believes in it so much.”