James Cameron opens up about conflicts with studio on ‘Avatar’
James Cameron has always been fascinated by the idea of pushing the cinematic medium forward through technical innovations. That’s why the production process for the Avatar sequel has taken so long, especially since Cameron had to build the technology to make it, which didn’t exist before the film.
Inevitably, Cameron has faced a lot of pushback from producers and studio executives for his technical extravagances. In a recent interview, Cameron revealed that he had to fight back against many executive decisions that were trying to undermine his creative sensibilities while he was making the original Avatar.
During a conversation with The New York Times, Cameron revealed that the studio wanted to greatly reduce the runtime. He said: “The studio felt that the film should be shorter and that there was too much flying around on the ikran — what the humans call the banshees.”
The filmmaker stood his ground and reminded them of the success of Titanic, whose production process also had a lot of crazy stories. He recalled: “I just drew a line in the sand and said, ‘You know what? I made Titanic. This building that we’re meeting in right now, this new half-billion-dollar complex on your lot? Titanic paid for that, so I get to do this.”
“There’s a sense of responsibility to do the best job we can and make it a moneymaker,” the filmmaker added. “But I don’t see how that translates artistically to any decision I make on the movie. I don’t say, ‘Hmmm, let’s put that plant over there because we’ll make more money.’ It doesn’t work that way. When it’s good enough, you kind of know.”
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