Most movie buffs will be familiar with James Cameron, an acclaimed super director whose works enjoy worldwide popularity. James Cameron is the mind behind two of the most successful films of all time – Titanic and Avatar.
You can’t say that many directors are in a league of their own, but James Cameron is in it. His film, Titanic has held the record for highest-grossing film of all time for twelve years. When it was time for the film to drop the record, it passed the crown to another Cameron project, Avatar, which currently holds the record. The sequel to Avatar is slated for release in 2020, and the highly anticipated film is expected to break its predecessor’s box office record when it finally drops.
So how exactly did Avatar end up earning $2 billion at the box office? He planned for it. Avatar has been in development since 1994. The plan for the film was written in an 80-page document by Cameron. Originally planned for 1999, the director’s vision turned out to be too far ahead of the cinematographic technology available at the time and the shooting was therefore delayed. In 2005, with the growth of filmmaking technology, James Cameron began developing the language, storylines, and fictional universe of extraterrestrials.
The blueprint and every element of the Avatar making process culminated in the December 10, 2009 release, and launched a string of box office records. Along with its commercial success, it was a critical success that earned it nine Academy nominations and three wins.
Ground
Avatar is known more for its innovative visuals than its storytelling. Either way, a combination of well-written dialogue and outstanding acting from the cast helped make this one an emotionally provoking film.
Avatar is set in the 22nd century when humans have completely exhausted Earth’s natural resources. The Resources Development Administration (RDA) was created to seek alternatives to alleviate the resulting energy crisis. The RDA finds a valuable material, obtanium, on a habitable moon called Pandora. The moon is inhabited by a tribe of humanoids called the Na’vi. Blue-skinned humanoids live on Pandora in peaceful harmony. They are also a religious group of people who worship a mother goddess called Eywa.
Due to humans’ inability to survive in Pandora’s atmosphere, RDA scientists develop Na’vi human hybrids called “avatars”, operated by genetically matched human beings.
Jake Sully – a genetically matched human and a former Marine who had lost the functionality of his legs accepts an assignment as a bodyguard for the exploration of Pandora. While in charge of protecting the other avatars of scientists Grace and Dr. Norm Spellman as they collect biological data, Jake is attacked by a thanator, an aggressive animal. During his attempt to escape the wild animal, Jake is saved by Neytiri, a Na’vi princess. For further protection, Neytiri takes Jake to his clan and Jake is initiated into their society.
Jake’s personal connection to the locals puts him in a unique position to gather information about the moon’s inhabitants, especially the Hometree, which is a sacred Na’vi site and also home to the largest and richest deposit. of unobtanium on the moon. Jake’s continued interaction with the Na’vi causes him to sympathize with the locals and his situation becomes further complicated when he falls in love with Neytiri and the two choose each other as partners.
Jake eventually switches allegiance and disables a human bulldozer that was about to destroy a sacred Na’vi site, causing the RDA security force to plan an attack on the Na’vi Hometree. Dr. Grace argued that destroying the Hometree could result in the death of Pandora’s biological network and was not met with deaf ears and the RDA moving forward to destroy it. Jake’s attempt to evacuate the Na’vi forces him to reveal he is a spy and he is captured along with Dr. Grace.
The capture of Jake and Dr. Grace forces RDA security to advance the proposed destruction of Hometree. The resulting chaos leads to the death of Neytiri’s father and many others. Freed, Jake, and Dr. Grace are disconnected from their avatars and imprisoned. A Pilot – Trudy Chacon, unhappy with the brutality against the Na’vi, goes against her orders and frees Jake and Dr. Grace then helps them return to their Avatars.
Back on Pandora, Jake deploys a series of ingenious tricks to regain the Na’vi’s trust and aid them in the fight against RDA forces led by Quaritch. Dr. Grace is badly injured in the battle and dies while the Na’vi attempts to permanently transfer her from her human body to her avatar.
After reinserting himself into the Na’vi, Jake gathers all the clans of Pandora and motivates them to fight against the forces of Quaritch. The final battle sees the Na’vi suffer many casualties, but with the timely chance of the Pandora flora and fauna joining in the battle, the Na’vi are able to regain control of their lives. Jake is permanently transferred into his avatar using Tree of Souls.
Cast and characters
Avatar features a small unit of main characters from both the human side of the story and the Na’vi side. Here’s a look at the main characters from both sides of the story.
Sam Worthington – Jake Sully
Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, the paraplegic former naval officer recruited into the Avatar program after the death of his twin brother. Sam, who also plays the twin, was chosen after a long search by James Cameron to find unknown actors. The actor passed two auditions for the role before being finally chosen by the director. Unfortunately, despite the worldwide fame and acclaim of the Avatar movie, Sam Worthington failed to turn popularity into a standout career. After two very big budget films where he played the main character, Sam was limited to independent and low budget films in Hollywood and Australia, his native country.
Zoe Saldana – Neytiri
Zoe plays Neytiri, the Na’vi native who is introduced by finding and rescuing Jake Sully. Neytiri is the daughter of Chief Omaticaya, the clan at the center of the story. Zoe Saldana’s physical body never appears in the film, she fully exists in the film as a blue-hued Na’vi. All the performance was done using performance capture. As one of two stars in history, Zoe has starred in other commercially successful projects and is considered one of the most successful actresses in Hollywood.
Sigourney Weaver – Dr. Grace Augustine
Veteran actress Sigourney Weaver stars as Dr. Grace, exobiologist and head of the Avatar program. Thanks to her help, Jake integrates into the Pandora world and the Na’vi culture. She dies at the end of the film in the final battle.
Other cast members include Stephen Lang, who plays Colonel Miles Quaritch, the story’s antagonist. Laz Alonso plays Tsu’tey, Omaticaya’s best warrior. Other stars include Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Wes Studi and Joel David Moore.
Avatar 2, 3, 4, 5 Release Dates
Much like the first film, the Avatar sequels suffered numerous delays amid production issues. We do, however, have an official release date scheduled for all four sequels to the film.
The Avatar movies are scheduled for release on the following dates – Avatar 2 is set to be released on December 18th , 2020 ; Avatar 3 hope to drop on December 17th , 2021 while Avatar 4 is screened for December 20th , 2024 and Avatar 5 will premiere on December 19th , 2025
all you need to know
While all the hype is currently happening with Marvel and other Disney movies, it’s expected that the publicity and marketing for the Avatar sequels will rev up as the release date nears. As the date nears, here are a few things you should know about the franchise.
1. Although not confirmed by the studio or Cameron, the sequels are tentatively named Avatar: The Water Path, Avatar: The Seedbearer , Avatar The Horseman of Tulkoun, and Avatar: The Quest of Eywa.
2 The main cast is set to return for the sequels despite the deaths of Dr. Grace and Colonel Quaritch, played by Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang. Additionally, Kate Winslet, who worked with James Cameron on the Titanic is set to join the sequels, Oona Chaplin from Game of Thrones and Cliff Curtis from Fear the Walking Dead are also expected to join the sequels.
3 Barely knowing the film’s plot after it’s been in production for almost a decade, James Cameron has let a few details slip about the sequel’s plot. According to Cameron, the sequel will be set in the future, far from the events of the first film. Jake Sully and Neytiri have become prominent members of their clan and they now have children, which the sequel will mainly focus on.
4. Avatar is known for its groundbreaking trippy visuals and it’s an element that should carry on through the rest of the franchise