Fresh from facing off with 6,500 fans in Comic-Con’s cavernous Hall H, director James Cameron launches into orbit with THR’s Borys Kit and Steven Zeitchik to talk about “Avatar,” his first studio feature since “Titanic.”
THR: Where does Comic-Con fit in for “Avatar"?
Cameron: I think it’s Pad 39 for the Apollo moon mission.
It’s the launchpad. We’re firing this big Saturn 5 rocket into the zeitgeist and if you have the fans behind you, if you have that support, it makes huge difference.
And they are going to go online and talk about it. I’m sure they already are. And it will spread laterally through a broader fan base to all these fantasy and science fiction fans.
THR: Does that make you nervous?
Cameron: Not really. And I don’t mean that to sound like hubris, like we knew this was going to slam-dunk or anything like that. It’s more like, I make movies for the geek in myself. I like this film. It’s the shit. I really enjoy watching it. So I knew that people like that, that enjoy fantasy and science fiction, the stuff that I grew up with, and all the new stuff out there, I knew they were going to dig it.
I also knew they’d be very critical. Like there’s been a lot of discussion about the Na’vi (the aliens in the film) design, why isn’t it more alien, things like that. I think when they see the full film, the emotional range of the story, they’ll get why the decisions were made.
Because the first person I hired was Wayne Barlowe. And Wayne Barlowe designs the trippiest aliens out there. But we had to rein back, because it’s also a love story. So there were narrative considerations.
THR: Are you afraid of people comparing it to “Aliens” because you do take on this otherworldly universe?
Cameron: We riff against it. Sigourney (Weaver) plays a character that is very different from Ripley (her character in “Aliens”). She is not a warrior at all. She’s very different in demeanor and in her narrative purpose. We had fun with that. In a lot of ways, it’s the anti-“Aliens.”
We use the term Aliens twice. Once in (alien language) Na’vi, “Faketuan,” and once spoken in English towards the end of the film. Both times, they are talking about us.
THR: Is that because you feel this could be happening here? You’ve mentioned this is a parable.
Cameron: Really what this film ultimately does is hold a mirror to our own blighted history, where we have a culturally advanced civilization supplanting more “primitive” civilizations. Some of these civilizations and cultures have a lot more wisdom than we’ve shown. We just have bigger guns. We have ships that can cross oceans, we have horses and armor. And this country we’re in now was taken from its indigenous owners. And it’s kind of owning up to our own human history.
Science fiction is for humans by humans. We’re not trying to predict what will really happen when we go to an alien planet. We’re trying to make some comment about our lives that we’re leading right now.
THR: This is an original movie and it's very different from the prequels and the sequels and the remakes that we see these days. You could have gone and made an “Aliens 5” but you decided to make this. How hard was that?
Cameron: It’s a very difficult proposal, in our modern marketing world, to make a big picture, the kind of picture I like to make where you have resources to build cool sets and do cool effects. To bring that kind of horsepower to bear without having the assured success associated with a franchise, it’s very difficult to do.
THR: Fox is taking a big leap of faith financially. Does that put pressure on you?
Cameron: It puts pressure on us about the marketing because we have to create the equivalent value of an existing brand without there being an existing brand. We have to make our own brand.
Look, I remember the first time what it was like (when) I saw the trailer for "Star Wars." I was there. And I was not alone on opening night. There were a lot of people who had camped out around the block for two days for opening night. So when people see stuff they like, they recognize it from their own dreams.
Because really that’s what it is. It’s recognition of something that no one has ever shown you before but is important to you at some level. When they see something they recognize as being something new and fresh and must-see, you don’t need a brand. You’ve created it in that moment synaptically.
That’s why we spent so much time on the design. We knew that every creature, every plant, everything in this movie had to fascinate. I don’t know if we always succeeded but I think we got enough fascinating stuff in it.
Fans want Cameron to make TRUE LIES 2 next with pal Schwarzenegger; then CRUSADE with Arnie because Schwarzenegger owns the rights; then BATTLE ANGEL with Arnie playing hunter killer Ido.
Posted by: ABking aka Mark and Andrew | July 24, 2009 at 01:16 PM
An equal value, equal brand - awareness. Better bows?
Posted by: Manga McCready | July 24, 2009 at 02:17 PM
Battle for Terra did it before you did, James. You Leftist hack. And I didn't go see it for the same reason I won't see this self-hating Leftwing tripe.
Posted by: Carlos | July 24, 2009 at 05:18 PM
TRUE LIES 2 would be the perfect comeback film to re-introduce Arnie to the young kids that never really saw him since he left films in 2003. It would also give Cameron a huge sequel non sci-fi event action film.
TRUE LIES 2 is the perfect 4 quadrum movie with comedy, action, suspence, drama... for all ages...but it still must get a hard R rating.
Spy films are some of the best action films to make (ie) MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movies, BOND movies, BOURNE movies etc...TRUE LIES 2 would make so much money!
Jim, if you make BATTLE ANGEL next, you and Arnie should do it together. Fans want you guys to work together alot more now. You two make a perfect action team.
Posted by: ABking aka Mark and Andrew | July 25, 2009 at 07:34 AM
@MangaMcCredy :
Battle for Terra riped off the AVATAR treatment that's been around the web for almost a decade. They're the ones that stole from Cameron.
Posted by: Germanico | July 25, 2009 at 06:52 PM
"hold a mirror to our own blighted history, where we have a culturally advanced civilization supplanting more “primitive” civilizations."
...says the guy who spends billions of dollars and piles of advanced technology to make ridiculously over hyped movies with lots of fancy explosions.
I'd love to see Cameron try to make "Titanic" with the technology of one of those "wiser" societies he so loves. Or live in one of them, instead of a massive, servant-filled Hollywood mansion.
Posted by: Jre | July 26, 2009 at 11:30 PM
Wow, "MangaMcCready" and"Jre". You sound very bitter. Did Cameron steal your girlfriend in high school or something. Or is it that he is doing what you wish you could? Lighten up, will ya?
Posted by: Alex | July 27, 2009 at 05:34 AM
So, it's "Dances With Wolves", but with aliens. Evil European-type Humans try to rape the planet of the Peaceful, Wise, and Otherwise Benevolent Noble Savages who have no choice but to fight against the Evil Humans, presumably while shedding a single tear.
Yawn.
Posted by: Devin | July 27, 2009 at 11:29 PM
How long is it?
That is the question about James Cameron's "Avatar," the science-fiction epic opening Dec. 18 that has been hotly debated for months, with rampant speculation that it would run over three hours. In fact, it will be well under that, at least in part to meet limits imposed by Imax technology.
The actual running time will be 150 minutes, which is two and a half hours, according to Bruce Snyder, president of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox, which is handling the release of the movie. He said that may rise to 156 minutes when all of the credits are added on, but that would be the maximum running time.
Posted by: ginger | December 23, 2009 at 02:54 AM
I've watch it, and it the best movie i see this year
Posted by: Mfirzam | December 24, 2009 at 04:49 AM
^^ Mfirzam, you need to take an English class.
Posted by: Steve | January 18, 2010 at 09:24 AM
Hi Guy's,
You sound very bitter. Did Cameron steal your girlfriend in high school or something. Or is it that he is doing what you wish you could? Lighten up, will ya?
Posted by: 32gb sd card | February 23, 2010 at 10:18 PM