Avatar (film)

This article is about the Avatar film. You may be looking for the species, or the program.

Avatar
Film Information
Director	James Cameron
Producer	James Cameron Jon Landau
Writer	James Cameron
Starring	Sam Worthington Zoë Saldaña Sigourney Weaver Michelle Rodriguez Stephen Lang Joel David Moore Giovanni Ribisi CCH Pounder Dileep Rao Matt Gerald Laz Alonso Wes Studi
Composer	James Horner
Cinematography	Mauro Fiore
Editor	John Refoua Stephen E. Rivkin
Studio	Lightstorm Entertainment Dune Entertainment Ingenious Film Partners
Distributor	20th Century Fox
Release Date	December 18, 2009
Running Time	160 min (theatrical) 169 min (special ed.) 176 min (extended)
Language	English
Budget	US $237,000,000 11.85 kg of unobtanium
Gross Revenue	US $2,781,132,032 138.9264 kg of unobtanium
Preceded by	Avatar Prequel
Followed by	Avatar 2

Avatar is a science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron, starring Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver. It was made by Lightstorm Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox on December 18, 2009. The film is set in the year 2154 on Pandora, a fictional Earth-like moon in a distant planetary system. Humans are engaged in mining Pandora's reserves of a precious mineral known as unobtanium, while the Na'vi — the sapient and sentient race of humanoids indigenous to the moon — resist the colonists' expansion, which threatens the continued existence of the Na'vi and the Pandoran ecosystem. The film's title refers to the remotely controlled, genetically engineered human-Na'vi bodies used by the film's human characters to interact with the indigenous population.

Plot

Jake arrives at Hell's Gate

In the year 2154, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former U.S. Marine paralyzed from the waist down due to wounds sustained in combat, is selected to participate in the Avatar Program. Originally, the position was supposed to be filled by his identical twin brother Tom Sully, who was recently killed by a man who attempted to rob him of his money. Arriving from the six-year journey from Earth to Pandora, Jake awakes from cryosleep with hundreds of other personnel to work at the human colony on this inhabited moon of Polyphemus, one of three fictional gas giants orbiting Alpha Centauri A. Jake meets with Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), a hardened and seasoned military veteran who is in charge of security on the colony. Quaritch welcomes the new personnel and military soldiers and briefs them on Pandora. It is mostly covered with lush rainforests and wildlife, and home to the primitive Na'vi, a sentient race of tall, blue-skinned humanoids.

The colony personnel and military are under the jurisdiction of the Resources Development Administration (RDA), a non-governmental organization back on Earth. Jake is introduced to Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore), a biologist who arrived on the same rotation of personnel as he did and Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), a botanist as well as the leader of the Avatar Program, which allows humans to control avatars, which are genetically engineered human-Na’vi hybrids who look like Na'vi. Using the avatars, Grace and her team have made some considerable progress teaching some Na’vi their ways and English as well as learning their language and culture. Grace is not pleased with RDA administrator Parker Selfridge's (Giovanni Ribisi) decision to use Jake to replace his brother’s avatar position, as she will have to spend time training him in Na’vi culture as well as teaching him how to control his avatar. Parker stresses that the RDA needs to mine the extremely valuable mineral unobtanium, which can be found in huge deposits on Pandora. Meanwhile, Quaritch makes Jake his informant to gather information on the Na’vi and their home, the Hometree (kelutral), which has huge deposits of unobtanium buried deep below its surface. He wants Jake to gain their trust and convince them to leave their home within three months. After being trained for several weeks in his new body, Jake, Grace and Norm explore the native wildlife with Trudy Chacon (Michelle Rodriguez), a retired Marine pilot who is assigned to ferry them to their location. While Grace and Norm study the wildlife, Jake encounters a group of hammerhead titanotheres, a rhinoceros-like animal species. However, the titanotheres flee from a thanator (palulukan), a terrifying land predator. Grace shouts at her group to flee. Jake runs from the thanator, who is after him, and loses most of his equipment and weapon in the process. He narrowly escapes death from the predator and falls into raging rivers below.

As darkness falls, Jake creates a fire torch using a sap substance on the trees, and once more runs and fights a large group of small sized viperwolves (nantang). A female Na’vi named Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) rescues him and kills several of the viperwolves before they all flee. Neytiri is at first angry with Jake for having caused her to kill the viperwolves needlessly and leaves him. Jake goes after Neytiri, who tells him not to follow as she knows he is an avatar hybrid - a dreamwalker from the Sky People. Jake is caught by her fellow Na’vi, but Neytiri defuses the situation by telling her people that she witnessed him being chosen by the seeds of Eywa, a spiritual entity that the Na’vi worship, which indicate him as a pure spirit. Meeting Eytukan (Wes Studi) and Mo'at (C. C. H. Pounder), the leaders of the Omaticaya clan, who are also Neytiri’s parents, Jake presents himself as a warrior "dreamwalker", a term the Na’vi used to call the avatar hybrids, with his intention to learn from them. Eytukan and Mo’at agree to teach Jake, making a reluctant Neytiri his tutor. From that day on, Jake spends his time learning the ways and culture of the Na’vi warriors, while jumping back to his original human body to report to Parker and Quaritch on information regarding the aliens. Grace arranges the movement of the avatar team to a remote camp in the Hallejuiah Mountains after finding out from Dr. Max Patel that Jake has been having regular communications with Quaritch about the Na'vi.

In his avatar form, Jake learns how to bond and control his flying mountain banshee, while gaining respect and admiration from the Na’vi, his relationship with Neytiri continuing to grow, but also earning the jealousy and annoyance of Tsu'tey (Laz Alonso), Neytiri’s betrothed and next in line to be the clan leader. Reporting back to Quaritch, the Colonel wants Jake to begin his plan to convince the tribe to leave the Hometree, but Jake is now reluctant and weary of his fellow humans to exploit the moon’s resources. He tells Quaritch that he will attempt to convince the tribe once he is made part of the People, a ceremony granting the greatest honor to an avatar. That night, Jake undergoes the ceremony where Eytukan considers him as one of their own and made part of the People, with Grace and Neytiri looking on. Jake is now part of the Omaticaya clan, and with this he can choose his mate; he and Neytiri choose each other and spend that night mating at the Tree of Voices, and they are now mated for life. When Jake and Neytiri awake, they encounter several bulldozers, sent by the RDA, destroying the nearby forests. In his attempt to stop them, Jake destroys one of the machine’s camera arrays. Returning to the Hometree, Tsu'tey confronts him for mating with Neytiri. Before anything else can happen, Jake and Grace are suddenly sent back to their human bodies when soldiers sent by Quaritch arrive and open their link units to take them back by force.

Quaritch and Parker have seen footage of Jake destroying the bulldozer’s cameras and have checked his entry logs, indicating him as losing interest to participate in the plan as well as committing possible treason. Grace tells an unbelieving Parker that the trees and plant life make up a huge network which connects the spiritual consciousness of all life, including the Na’vi, and must not be destroyed. Given a chance to attempt a final plea to the tribe to leave their home, Jake and Grace return to their avatar forms but the Na'vi refuse to listen after Jake reveals he was sent by his superiors to convince them to move. They are bound and labelled as traitors by the Na'vi who intend to defend themselves. A large strike force led by Quaritch destroys the Hometree, firing incendiary rounds that topple it to the ground, while killing large numbers of the tribe, despite their attempts to retaliate. Mo’at releases Jake and Grace from their bonds and pleads them to save her tribe. Eytukan is killed in the destruction, leaving Neytiri devastated. She tells Jake to stay away when he tries to comfort her.

File:I was in the place where eye not see .jpg

Jake observes the destruction site

In the chaos, Jake and Grace are sent back to their original bodies to be placed under arrest for treason, along with Norm, who tried to stop the military from disabling their avatar forms. Trudy Chacon rescues the avatar team from prison and flies them to safety, however Grace is shot by Quaritch when he attempts to stop them from leaving the colony. The team has the camp container holding the avatar transfer pods sent near the Tree of Souls, where the remaining Omaticaya tribe has fled to safety. Jake makes his intention to redeem himself in the eyes of the Na’vi and successfully tames and controls a great leonopteryx, an enormous flying creature related to the banshee, making him the sixth Toruk Makto in Na'vi history. Jake makes a plea to Mo’at to save Grace from dying. This is done by trying to have her consciousness transferred permanently into her avatar form, using the Tree of Souls, before her human body expires. However, it is too late, as Grace is too weak to be transferred. Before she passes away, she tells Jake that she’s seen Eywa and the holy entity does exist.

Following Grace's death, he asks Tsu’tey, who has been made clan leader, and the entire tribe to stand with him and face the humans. Having earned back the tribe’s trust, Jake makes plans to join with other clans to strike back at the human forces. Surveying the Na’vi, Quaritch learns that other clans have converged with the Omaticaya at the Tree of Souls and decides to destroy them and their holy ground to put an end to their defiance once and for all. The night before the battle, Jake appeals to Ewya to fight along side the Na'vi, asking her to look into Grace's memories of Earth. A huge military fleet commandeered by Quaritch approach the Tree of Souls, beginning the Assault on the Tree of Souls. Thousands of Na’vi warriors led by Jake and Tsu’tey take to the skies and attack the fleet, causing huge losses on both sides. Neytiri is knocked off her banshee and flees the military ground forces, while Norm’s avatar is shot, forcing him to jump back to his real body and continue the fight as a human. Tsu’tey makes a valiant attempt to take down the shuttle carrying the explosives, but is shot and falls to the forest below. Trudy makes a valiant attempt to protect Jake from Quaritch's Dragon, but is outgunned and killed.

When all things seem bleak, the native wildlife of Pandora strikes back in force, seemingly responding to Jake's earlier plea to Eywa for help. The ground and aerial troops are scattered by the wildlife, while the shuttle carrying the explosives is destroyed before it reaches the Tree of Souls. During the wildlife's attack on the ground, a thanator approaches Neytiri and offers her to ride it. She accepts by bonding with it. Jake manages to bring down Quaritch’s gunship, but the Colonel manages to get into his AMP suit and escape the ship's destruction. Finding the camp containing the avatar pods by chance, Quaritch attempts to destroy Jake’s body but Neytiri and her thanator attack him. However, Quaritch kills the thanator with his AMP and is about to kill Neytiri when Jake arrives to challenge him. As they fight, Jake destroys the AMP’s life support and canopy but is caught in the mech’s grip. Neytiri saves Jake by planting two arrows into Quaritch’s chest, killing the Colonel. The camp is damaged during Quaritch's attack and leaks deadly Pandoran air, leaving Jake's human body almost dying from the poisonous air until Neytiri helps him put on his exopack. At this moment, Jake says to Neytiri "I See you", the traditional Na'vi greeting. Neytiri begins to shed tears of joy and says it back to him. The words take on an entirely new meaning as Jake is in his human form.

Avatar logo shown before closing credits.

Having put an end to the military's attack, the Na'vi round up the remaining RDA personnel to be sent back to Earth, while allowing a select group to stay with them on Pandora, which includes Jake, Norm, the avatar team and many other RDA defectors. Jake decides to stay in his avatar form forever, and concludes his final entry log of his experiences on his birthday. Returning to the Tree of Souls, he undergoes the consciousness transfer from his human body to his avatar form, and awakens to a new life as a Na'vi.

Cast

Humans

• Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, a Marine veteran, paralyzed from the waist down that volunteers to go to Pandora as an avatar driver. There he falls in love with the Na'vi princess, Neytiri. He is the main protagonist of the film.
• Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine, a xenobotanist that mentors Jake Sully and helps him in the amazing planet of Pandora. She is in charge of the Avatar Program.
• Michelle Rodriguez as Trudy Chacon, a SecOps pilot that takes the avatar team to different parts on Pandora.
• Joel David Moore as Norm Spellman, an anthropologist who studies plant and nature life (like Dr. Grace Augustine).
• Stephen Lang as Miles Quaritch, the chief of security on Pandora. He has a profound disregard for Pandoran life and is the main antagonist.
• Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, the Administrator of the RDA who does anything for money and the second-most prominent villain, after Quaritch.
• Matt Gerald as Lyle Wainfleet, a SecOps corporal.
• Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel, the doctor of the operation that passes the human mind on an avatar.

Na'vi

• Zoe Saldana as Neytiri, the Omaticaya clan princess that Jake falls in love with.
• CCH Pounder as Mo'at, the clan's spiritual leader and mother of Neytiri. She feels uncomfortable about the humans visiting her home planet.
• Laz Alonso as Tsu'tey, the clan's finest warrior that was supposed to mate with Neytiri.
• Wes Studi as Eytukan, the clan's leader and father of Neytiri. He is well-respected by his people.

Production

The first on-set image to be released.

Avatar had been in development since 1994 by James Cameron, who wrote a 114-page scriptment for the film. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Titanic, and the film would have been released in 1999, but according to James Cameron, "technology needed to catch up" with his vision of the film. In early 2006, James Cameron developed the script, the language, and the culture of Pandora. He stated that since Avatar was successful, there will be at least two sequels.

The film was first titled Project 880, and was released in traditional 2D and 3D formats, along with an IMAX 3D release in selected theaters. The film is estimated to have cost over $300 million to produce, and another estimated $200 million for the distribution and other costs, thus totaling to about half a billion dollars. Avatar was touted as a breakthrough in terms of filmmaking technology, for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras that were specially designed for the film's production.

Release

Opening to critical acclaim, it earned an estimated $27 million on its opening day and an estimated $77,025,481 domestically its opening weekend. Worldwide, the film grossed an estimated $232,180,000 its opening weekend, the ninth largest opening-weekend gross of all time, and the largest for a non-franchise, non-sequel and original film. It was also considered to be a front-runner for awards and nominations at the 82nd Academy Awards. So far, it has been nominated to 4 Golden Globes, 2 of which it won: Best Director and Best Motion Picture (Drama). The film was rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and moderate tobacco usage.

The movie ultimately grossed $2,781,132,032 worldwide (including the re-release), surpassing Titanic as the highest grossing film of all time, worldwide.

Special Edition Re-release

There was a theatrical re-release of the film in theaters on August 27, 2010, it included an extra 9 minutes of footage. It was only released in 3-D and IMAX 3-D and was only in theaters for one week. The following scenes and shots were added:

• Extended first flight over Pandora, with the team seeing a Sturmbeest herd. The animal was not featured in the original theatrical release.
• Grace, Norm and Jake visit the Old School House. Grace tells Jake how it was closed: Sylwanin, along with several other Na'vi children, had burned an RDA bulldozer and fled to Grace's school seeking protection. RDA soldiers, however, followed the children to the school and opened fire. Despite Grace's best efforts to keep the Na'vi safe, Sylwanin and many others were killed and Grace herself was shot.
• Extended bioluminescent jungle scene, during Jake's first night on Pandora.
• The scene near the campfire is extended. Neytiri tells Jake her full name.
• A scene is added after Jake, Grace, Trudy and Norm arrive at the remote base Site 26 in the Hallelujah Mountains. In this scene, it is explained why the mountains float.
• Expanded fan lizard scene.
• Expanded Iknimaya scene, with Neytiri flying past on Seze.
• A sturmbeest hunt after Jake learns to ride an ikran (Jake kills one of these creatures with his bow from atop his ikran).
• The mating scene is extended and shows Jake and Neytiri connecting their queues and the deep meaning that this act has for the Na'vi.
• Another added scene is inserted after the destruction of the Tree of Voices by RDA bulldozers. Tsu'tey leads a war party against the RDA. The Na'vi attack the bulldozers and kill the human escorts, leaving the equipment destroyed and burning. Even the soldiers in AMP suits are killed. This scene shows Lyle Wainfleet reporting the scene of the attack to the Operations Center, where Miles Quaritch and Parker Selfridge observe the aftermath. It serves as the decisive moment for the RDA to destroy the Hometree.
• Extended Hammerhead Titanothere attack scene during the battle.
• Extended combat between Quaritch, Jake and Neytiri.
• A scene near the end of the film where a mortally wounded Tsu'tey assigns the clan's leadership to Jake and orders him to end his agony. Jake unwillingly does so, and recites a prayer for him.

Extended Collector's Edition

Extended Collector's Edition Blu-ray

The Extended Collector's Edition contained a further seven minutes compared to the special edition and omitted two minor shots.

• The Earth opening, in which Jake Sully attempts to intervene in a bar fight. He then witnesses his brother's funeral, and hears about his opportunity on Pandora.
• An additional shot during the landing sequence.
• Additional dialogue in the link room following Jake's first night in Hometree.
• After months in the Na'vi part of his life, Jake starts to hate human food. Jake refuses to eat a microwave-heated burrito, a food considered by the Na'vi (in the script) as "food for larvae."
• Additional dialogue ahead of the attack on the Hometree, with Grace musing about the situation. "You know, they never wanted us to succeed. They bulldozed the sacred site on purpose - to trigger a response. They're fabricating a war. They get what they want."

Other Deleted Scenes

There were a number of other scenes left unfinished at various stages in the production process. About 45 minutes of footage exists for the following entries, which were present on the Extended Collector's Edition's second disc. Additionally, the original script had a number of unused scenes and these are also listed below.

• Stingbat Attack: Jake, in his wheelchair, comes near the fence that surrounds Hells Gate, staring at a creature that resembles a stingbat, orange and has wings that appear more bat like, attacks the fence, trying to get at him, but is killed by Lyle Wainfleet.
• The script had a character working in Hell's Kitchen named Hegner, who lost his Avatar to a Slinth. "Hegner felt himself die, and he hasn't been right since. Added to the trauma is the loss... the loss of his other life, the one lived in his avatar body."
• In the script, Trudy Chacon and Norm Spellman have a romantic relationship. Before she crashes, Trudy whispers: "Norm, I love you." Jake discovers their relationship, when, getting out of a link, finds them sharing their intimacy in Norm's bunk.
• The script version of Tsu'tey's death was marginally longer, having had his queue cut off by Lyle Wainfleet.
• The mating scene between Jake and Neytiri has some additional dialogue.
• The Dreamhunt: After having captured his ikran, Jake is actually an "adult" Na'vi. The last rite is the Uniltaron, when a Na'vi will discover his "protective animal", similar to rituals in some Native American cultures. During the rite, Jake sees a toruk, the "last shadow," and is shy about sharing his vision, as the animal is considered to be a symbol of bad luck. Mo'at decrees that the vision is not clear and that Jake is not obliged to share it.
• Hunt Festival: Another scene sees Jake and Tsu'tey, during a hunt festival, engage in a drinking contest. Tsu'tey is ready to open himself emotionally to Jake, but Neytiri interrupts them and takes Jake to dance with her, angering Tsu'tey. While Jake and Neytiri dance in the front of the fire, Tsu'tey watches them jealously.
• The Challenge: In another scene, Tsu'tey, upon learning that Jake and Neytiri are mated for life, challenges Jake to a fight to the death. Jake accepts the challenge, and the two fight with staffs. The fight ends when Jake and Grace are returned to their human bodies by Quaritch, and Tsu'tey is stopped from killing Jake's inert avatar by Neytiri.
• You're a long way from Earth: Prior to the Assault on the Tree of Souls, Quaritch takes over the operation, much to Selfridge's fury, who angrily berates the Colonel for "turning the mine-workers local into a freakin' militia!" and tries to stop him from proceeding with the assault. Quaritch dismisses Selfridge and prepares for the upcoming battle.
• New Life: Neytiri was shown in this scene to be pregnant with Jake's child.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the movie.

Avatar: Music from the Motion Picture was released on December 15, 2009 by composer James Horner. A promotional 3 disc set was also released. A 5 disc set referred to as Avatar: Complete Score was announced, but the set was leaked ahead of the launch and ultimately never released commercially.

Finally, there was a CD single of the song I See You, performed by Leona Lewis, which was released on December 3, 2009.

Awards

Empire Awards

• Best Movie (Winner)
• Best Actress (Zoe Saldana)(Winner)
• Best Director (James Cameron) (Winner)

Academy Awards

• Art Direction (Winner)
• Cinematography (Winner)
• Directing (James Cameron) (Nominated)
• Film Editing (Nominated)
• Music (Score) (James Horner) (Nominated)
• Best Picture (James Cameron and Jon Landau) (Nominated)
• Sound Editing (Nominated)
• Sound Mixing (Nominated)
• Visual Effects (Winner)

British Academy Awards

• Best Cinematography (Mauro Fiore) (Nominated)
• Best Director (James Cameron) (Nominated)
• Best Editing (Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron) (Nominated)
• Best Film (Nominated)
• Best Music (James Horner) (Nominated)
• Best Production Design (Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair) (Winner)
• Best Sound (Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson, Addison Teague) (Nominated)
• Best Special Visual Effects (Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones) (Winner)

Golden Globes

• Best Motion Picture: Drama (Winner)
• Best Director (James Cameron) (Winner)
• Best Original Score (Nominated)
• Best Original Song (Nominated)

Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA)

• Best Picture (Nominated)
• Best Director (James Cameron) (Nominated)
• Best Cinematography (Winner)
• Best Art Direction (Winner)
• Best Editing (Winner)
• Best Makeup (Nominated)
• Best Visual Effects (Winner)
• Best Sound (Winner)
• Best Action Movie (Winner)

Saturn Awards

• Best Science Fiction Film (Winner)
• Best Actor (Sam Worthington) (Winner)
• Best Actress (Zoe Saldana) (Winner)
• Best Director (James Cameron) (Winner)
• Best Writing (James Cameron) (Winner)
• Best Supporting Actor (Stephen Lang) (Winner)
• Best Supporting Actress (Sigourney Weaver) (Winner)
• Best Music (James Horner) (Winner)
• Best Production Design (Winner)
• Best Special Effects (Winner)

New York Critics Online

• Best Picture (Winner)

Producers Guild Award

• Best Picture (Nominated)

Director's Guild Award

• Best Director (James Cameron) (Nominated)

Writer's Guild Award

• Best Original Screenplay (James Cameron) (Nominated)

DVD / Blu-ray Releases

Blu-ray Edition

The theatrical version of the movie was released on April 22nd, 2010 on Blu-ray and DVD. This was a bare-bones release, containing nothing in the way of special features.

The Avatar: Extended Collector's Edition, containing all three versions of the film and bonus content, was released on November 16th, 2010. It is a three disc set, containing behind the scenes material as well as deleted scenes.

A 3D version featuring the theatrical cut was also released in late 2010. This version was exclusively bundled with Panasonic 3D TVs and Blu-ray players. A general release was planned for Q1 of 2011, but the bundling period was extend by one year until early 2012. Albeit for copies circulating on the internet, these discs were never made available for individual sale.

Instead, a limited 3D edition was released on October 16, 2012.

Sequels

On December 11, 2009, one week before Avatar was released to theaters, James Cameron hinted that he intended to make two sequels if Avatar was successful enough. There are now three sequels in development, with Avatar 2 scheduled for December 2021. While the film franchise was originally intended to be a trilogy, a prequel has also been announced, set 35 years before the first film.

Trivia

General

• The font used for the film's logo is Papyrus, with a few minor adjustments.
• A casting call was posted on the website of Mali Finn Casting in early December 2005 for the female lead. The casting call was erroneously reported to be for James Cameron's Battle Angel, then planned for 2011.

Actors

• Michael Biehn was considered for the role of Colonel Quaritch. He met with James Cameron three times and saw some of the 3D footage, but in the end it simply came down to the fact that Cameron didn't want people thinking it was Aliens (1986) all over again, as Sigourney Weaver had already been cast.
• Sigourney Weaver plays a "James Cameron" persona for her character in Avatar. Sigourney stated in an interview, "I teased him because to me I'm playing Jim Cameron in the movie as this kind of brilliant, approach-driven, idealistic perfectionist. But that same somebody has a great heart underneath. So I have to say I was always kind of channeling him."
• The second James Cameron film that doesn't feature either Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Jennette Goldstein, or Arnold Schwarzennegger, the first being Piranha 2: The Spawning.
• Sam Worthington beat out two other actors for the role of Jake Sully: Chris Evans and Channing Tatum. This was based on his delivery of the crucial speech to the Na'vi at the Tree of Souls.

Production

• James Cameron originally attempted to get the film made in 1999 as his immediate follow-up to Titanic (1997). However, at the time, the special effects he wanted for the movie ran the proposed budget up to $400 million. No studio would fund the film, and it was subsequently shelved for almost ten years.
• James Cameron's first feature film since Titanic (1997).
• The movie is 40% live action and 60% photo-realistic CGI. A large amount of motion capture technology was used for the CGI scenes.
• Seeing the character of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) convinced James Cameron that CGI effects had progressed enough to make Avatar (2009).
• The third and final collaboration involving director Cameron and music composer James Horner prior to the latter's tragic death (the other two being 1986's Alien and 1997's Titanic).

Movie

• The film is rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking, according to commercials on air. It is James Cameron's third film to receive this rating (with Titanic and The Abyss).
• The mating scene was cut short in the original release because James Cameron felt that it would make some audience members feel uncomfortable, and to avoid an "R" rating of the film.
• Avatar was the first film to feature the new 20th Century Fox logo, which is animated by Blue Sky Studios, the makers of Ice Age (2002).
• The major part of the film takes place in August 2154, 200 years after James Cameron's birth (* 16. August 1954).
• President Obama watched Avatar on December 31, 2009 with his family.
• Avatar was the highest grossing film of all time until it was surpassed by Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Taking inflation into account, it ranks 2nd, behind only Gone with the Wind.
• Avatar is the first film to earn more than $2 billion worldwide at the box office.

External Links

• Wikipedia article: Avatar (2009 film)
• Official website: http://www.avatarmovie.com/
• Official YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/officialavatar
• Official Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/avatar
• Official Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/officialavatar
• Unofficial forums: http://www.avatar-forums.com/
• Another Fansite: http://www.naviblue.com/hometree/
• Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/

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