China Netnews (reporter Zhang Rui) legendary director James Cameron said in an interview with China Net reporter a few days ago that "Avatar" is still closely related to today's world and shared the production progress of the sequel.
James Cameron (Courtesy of the film)
In 2009, "Avatar" was released worldwide, and it took only 41 days to break the global box office record previously held by Cameron's own Titanic, and held it for 10 years, until the record of "Avengers 4: Endgame" in 2019 was refreshed.
After an 11-year absence, "Avatar" suddenly announced last week that it would be re-screened in the Chinese market, and received a positive response from Chinese audiences – in just two days on the weekend, "Avatar" re-released box office reached 136 million yuan, of which 40 million came from the IMAX screen. "Avatar" not only won the Chinese mainland weekend box office title, but also made its global box office total exceed 2.8 billion US dollars, returning to the world's highest-grossing movie throne.
Cameron retweeted tweets from Marvel and The Avengers 4 director congratulating him on reaching the top again on his social media and recorded a video thanking Chinese audiences. "I want to say to you, 'Irayo,' which is 'thank you' in Na'a."
Timeless classics with present significance
Cameron told China.com that despite the past many years, Avatar is still closely related to the current world. "We are now facing problems such as climate change, vegetation destruction, and our relationship with nature is worse than ever. Avatar is about these issues, and it's a film that never goes out of style. The story of Avatar takes place in another world, in a sense of fantasy. It allows us to think about problems and find solutions from a different perspective, rather than focusing too much on our real world. ”
Cameron never saw this phenomenon of cultural significance as a pop culture product. "At the time, there may have been some pop culture moments around Avatar, but it wasn't pop culture. It didn't follow any music and film trends. It is unique. ”
IMAX "Avatar" Movie Viewing Event Held in Beijing (Courtesy of IMAX China)
The director also responded to criticism of Avatar: "Some people criticized that the story in the film is too simple. But it's really not that simple – it's shared globally. It's a film that anyone, everywhere, can understand and resonate. ”
Cameron was excited that Avatar was re-screened on 20,000 3D screens in China, and 700 of them were IMAX screens. You know, 11 years ago, when "Avatar" was first screened in China, there were only 14 IMAX screens in the country. But those 14 IMAX screens grossed about 168 million yuan at the box office. Many people lined up in long lines, even on train planes, to rush to cities with IMAX cinemas to grab tickets.
Now, China has surpassed North America to become the world's largest film market, whether it is the number of screens of 76,000 pieces or the box office figures produced, it is amazing. On the IMAX screen, China has also become the world's largest market for IMAX, with more than 700 theaters, contributing one-third of IMAX's global box office every year.
"The re-screening in China gives people who have never seen the film before the opportunity to step into the world of Avatar in their original way of watching it – a large screen, a 3D view and a sense of complete immersion." It's exciting to embark on this journey. ”
"I am honored that Avatar was selected by the China Film Bureau as a film that attracts people back to the theater. In this era when movies can be watched on your home computer and mobile phone, let us remind people of what a real cinema experience is. Let's remind them of the meaning of cinema. ”
Look back at the development of 3D movies
Avatar has been released worldwide since 2009. China was only introduced in 2010. However, it soon set off a nationwide movie-watching boom, the scene was hot and difficult to find, and the cumulative box office exceeded 1.34 billion yuan, refreshing the record of the box office champion in China's film history that year, nearly three times. In addition, the film has won many awards, including the Oscar for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, best visual effects and other three technical awards, which is still an insurmountable myth in the hearts of fans around the world.
"Avatar" re-screening poster (courtesy of the film)
"3D cinema has a glorious history, and 'Avatar' is the beginning of this brilliant beginning," as a milestone work that opened the global 3D viewing trend, "Avatar" has influenced it to this day. In this regard, Cameron also confidently said that although the film was made 12 years ago, "I can assure you that Avatar is still the highest quality 3D film." ”
That's true. After the success of "Avatar", 3D movies have been sought after by the industry due to its novelty, high ticket prices and difficult to record screens. Many films have been made or converted into 3D versions, but there are also many pseudo-3D movies, which have caused a huge backlash from audiences.
"We had several technical hurdles back then, like the brightness of the projector. But now we have laser projectors, brighter projectors. We have a lot of ways to improve," Cameron said. He also criticized some film producers who advertised and produced pseudo-3D movies in order to raise ticket prices, and did not try their best to make real 3D movies, which would make the audience who bought tickets feel like they were "pitted".
"But now, the world has learned to appreciate 3D movies. Audiences will also still be eager for 3D blockbusters, such as Disney movies, superhero movies, or movies like Avatar. I think people still want to go to the big screen and enjoy the 3D experience. ”
He also revealed to China.com: "Of course, in the "Avatar" sequel, we will push 3D technology to a farther frontier. ”
Lifetime Series: Avatar sequel
Currently, Cameron is working hard in New Zealand for the sequel to Avatar. There are a total of four sequels to "Avatar", and now it is mainly focusing on the shooting and post-production of the second and third parts. The release date of the "Avatar" sequel has been postponed eight times, which makes fans lament that even if they can finally watch the last episode, it belongs to the "lifetime".
Concept art of the sequel to "Avatar" (courtesy of the film)
"Avatar 2" is now scheduled for global release on December 16, 2022, and it seems that after years of waiting, there is finally hope. The sequel will return to Pandora once again, following the two protagonists Jack Sally and Netini as they explore more of the untold wonders of the magical planet. The film will continue to be directed and written by Cameron, with starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver all returning.
Talking about why the Avatar sequel took so long, Cameron confessed: "Initially I spent two years building a submarine and diving to the deepest part of the world. Then it was only in 2012 that the real planning for a sequel began. I created stories, but not just one, but four, and I wanted to tell an epic grand story. If each movie is 3 hours long, I'm going to write 12 hours of Avatar. Then creating the character was a very detailed and complicated process, and by the time we actually started shooting, it was three years ago. We spent a year and a half doing motion capture shots of computer-animated characters, and then live-action shots. ”
"It's a very complex process, and VFX companies are doing special effects at the same time. So, sometimes, I edit new content while reviewing content that's almost done. ”
Cameron's team has studios in Both New Zealand and Los Angeles and is busy. The staff of the two studios communicate through the network for a long time, and a large number of files are transferred back and forth every day. Therefore, before the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, even as early as the production of the first "Avatar", Cameron and his team were accustomed to this kind of multi-place linkage "cloud collaboration".
"I think it's funny that this way of working is not affected by the pandemic for me. While the rest of the world is struggling to get used to the current way of living and communicating virtually, we've been working that way for 15 years. ”
Cameron said they were lucky enough to be stationed in New Zealand before the outbreak began. However, the epidemic has brought some negative effects: they lost four months of production time, and the release of the sequel has been delayed by a full year to 2022. "But it's not necessarily a bad thing either, on a macro level, maybe it's a good thing because we need to launch this when everybody comes back to cinema."
In the past year, the epidemic has brought a terrible blow to theaters in China and the world. So far, theaters in many places abroad are still closed. "We need to get all the audiences back in the theater, not just the Chinese audience. China is the leader in this matter, and you have done a great job of effectively controlling the epidemic. Your economy has recovered, and so has the film industry. I'm excited to be part of China's post-pandemic film market recovery, but we'll have to get the rest of the world to keep up. ”
Source: China Net