REPORT
The Real Reason Avatar
Needed Three More
Sequels, According To
James Cameron
W
ho here remembers Avatar? Surely, with the
amount of money it made, and the hearts and
minds it won back in 2009, there's a healthy
fan base that's still awaiting the oft delayed sequels. At
least, that's what James Cameron and 20th Century Fox
are hoping, as what was originally planned as a trilogy
became a four film epic that all parties involved are hoping will be rewarding both in the sense of storytelling,
and in box office dollars.
James Cameron spoke to this point with Variety, as they
caught up with him during this weekend's San Diego
Comic Con. While Cameron was on hand for the 30th
anniversary celebration for
Aliens, the
legendary
director
also talked about
a Blu-ray
release
for
The
Abyss, as
well as the
three anticipated
Avatar
sequels
that were
originally
set to be
released starting back in 2014, and are now looking to
drop between 2018 and 2020. And yet, through all of the
complications, James Cameron feels theAvatar story
arc needs this many sequels to resolve itself, all thanks
to the following reasons: The Avatar story arc was originally meant to be a trilogy, but I overwrite, and my writers
overwrote as well. But basically the first of the sequels
cloned itself and became two films, so now it's four films.
And the studio's very happy with it. They have an opportunity to make more money, but it's also an opportunity
to spend a lot more money, too, so there's a clench factor. So obviously, there's two camps that stand to benefit
from Avatar 2 through Avatar 4 making it to the multiplexes. With the record for the highest grossing film on
the worldwide stage, and the ability to hold onto that title
for almost 10 years, Avatar seems like a bulletproof franchise. And with the time in-between the first installment
and this new trilogy of follow-ups, James Cameron and
the Fox brass are more than likely looking to cash in big
time, as there's none of the usual franchise fatigue wearing down on Pandora and its denizens. Yet with all of this
talk about fulfilling story arcs and Fox looking to gamble
the big one, there's still a chance this could severely
backfire. For as little franchise fatigue that Avatar is feeling right now,
there's also a
good
chance
that the needle
could
swing
the other way.
Again, almost
a decade has
passed since
Avatar was a
smash hit at
the box office,
and the world
has more than
changed at the
movies,
with
Marvel and DC
slugging it out
whenever Star
Wars and other
big franchises in the making aren't already crowding out
the box office. The world has gotten a lot smaller, despite the growth of Avatar's world, and audiences are