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WE’VE LEARNED THE WAY OF WATER. NOW, JAMES CAMERON IS TURNING UP THE HEAT WITH AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH
WORDS NICK DE SEMLYEN
WHEN EMPIRE IS patched into a Zoom with James Cameron, it’s on 18 December — 15 years to the day since Avatar was first released. But he’s not marking the occasion with blue balloons or a tulkun-shaped cake. He’s got the follow-up to the most successful movie in history, plus the third-most successful movie in history, keeping him busy. “Oh, good point. I didn’t even realise that milestone was upon us,” he says. “I’ve spent the last three days pulling all-nighters, getting the film ready to screen for Disney. Dealing with the sound and all that. Getting all perfectionistnerdy about the presentation.”
Even 12 months out from release, Cameron is working overtime on making sure Fire And Ash scorches our faces off. He’s taking an hour out of his schedule, though, to give Empire the world’s first extensive interview on the biggest cinematic event of 2025. Kicking off a year of unprecedented coverage, in which we’ll be charting the creation of the film throughout every issue, he tells us how he’s changing the game on Pandora.
So, what shape is the film in?
It’s in strong shape, I think. I feel really good about it, at least on a scene-by-scene basis. I haven’t watched it myself from end to end in about a year, and the last time it made me want to vomit. But that’s always a good reaction, the first time you screen a film for yourself. Because then you get really rigorous and disciplined about making it work. We’ve doubled the number of shots finished at this stage of the game than we had on movie two [and] the films are about equal length. So that puts us well ahead of the curve, which is something I’ve never, frankly, experienced before. (Laughs) It’s always a last-minute fricking nightmare on these films with a million details. It’s a little bit less nightmarish. We’re getting to the point where we’re actually getting good at this.