James Cameron felt ‘Avatar’ would be forgotten in 10 years
James Cameron has been working on an Avatar sequel for more than a decade now, which is why many fans thought that the film would never see the light of day. However, Cameron has shown remarkable perseverance by working on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 simultaneously while planning for future entries to the franchise.
Considering that getting the original Avatar made was a challenge due to constant pushbacks from studio executives and producers, it is safe to say that Cameron really believes in his vision of Avatar. Not just that, he has pushed the cinematic medium forward by developing technology that did not exist before Avatar 2.
Since the first trailers for Avatar 2 were released, the film has been a central part of the current discourse around contemporary cinema. According to some critics, Cameron’s upcoming epic will be the perfect blockbuster to remind audiences of the magic of the theatre experience in an era of couch streaming.
While the response has been overwhelming, Cameron did not expect fans to remember the existence of Avatar. In a 2010 interview with Collider, the filmmaker said that he thought audiences would forget all about Avatar by the time the sequels came out due to the hyper-paced production capabilities of studios like Marvel.
“I think the breathing room is a given,” Cameron said of the gap between the films. “The fastest we could imagine making another film is three to three and a half years, from the moment we start, and we’re not planning on starting tomorrow. It’s not about me needing breathing room. It’s that these films take time.”
The filmmaker also commented on Avatar’s place in the public consciousness. He added: “There’s going to be a natural breathing room. People will have forgotten about Avatar by the time we get a sequel done, and then they’ll go, ‘Oh, Avatar. Yeah, that would be cool.’ It’s not like Iron Man 2, coming out the year after Iron Man 1. It ain’t going to work that way.”
It is safe to say that Cameron was wrong since public interest in the franchise has remained strong. Not just that, recent reruns of the original Avatar have managed to draw people to the theatres, which has helped refresh their memories. Set to come out in December of this year after multiple delays, Avatar: The Way of Water is going to be one of the biggest productions of the year.
