Avatar he has to bring in the plumbing for James Cameron to consider it a success.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE at Disney’s D23 fan event in Anaheim, Calif., on Friday, Aug. 9, the director said he believes “the hardest part of the job is living with each image every day and its [new] details, but you can still feel how the film [affects] you as an audience member.”
“If I can’t cry in a movie, I know I’ve failed miserably, and if I can’t, there’s something wrong,” Cameron (69) added. “That has to be fixed.”
The three-time Oscar winner admitted that he “lived through that crisis of faith Avatar 3 at one point in an early cut,” when he thought, “‘We’re not there.’ ”
And after they “did some extra work,” Cameron told PEOPLE, “Now it’s shooting. Absolutely interesting.”
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Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña inside Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). 20th Century Studios Everything you need to know about the upcoming Avatar Sequels
The first film in the blockbuster franchise hit theaters in 2009, followed by a sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water13 years later, 2022. The upcoming third film will be titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, which was revealed on Friday at D23.
Read the message at Avatar Instagram account, “Get ready to return to Pandora.”
Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña, who star in Avatar films, also spoke to PEOPLE on Friday at D23, where Worthington, 48, said, “It’s not about what you see … it’s about how you feel.”
Added Saldaña, 46, “I share the same feeling with the audience, because it’s not easy for me to watch things that I’m a part of, but for some reason when I watch AvatarI have an out-of-body experience where I look at it as if I had never been a part of it, or I look at it like I’m there.”
“The other thing, the feeling is so deep,” she said.
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From left: Zoe Saldaña James Cameron and Sam Worthington at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim, California on August 9, 2024.
Brian Bowen Smith
‘Avatar: Path of Water’ overtook ‘Titanic’ to become the third highest-grossing film of all time
The third installment of the franchise is expected to hit theaters in December 2025, with Avatar 4 next 2029 i Avatar 5 in 2031.
And for Cameron, Worthington and Saldaña, “respecting that process” of evolution and fine-tuning the films was important to their success, the actress told PEOPLE.
“I feel like that’s what separates a movie that’s good from a movie that’s great. A story that just lives forever is when you respect that process,” she explained. “We’re kind of saying, ‘We’re not there yet. We’re not going to listen to formula and deadlines and budgets and ‘We have to do it this way because everyone else is doing it this way.’ ‘ No, no, no. You have to really stay focused and shut out all that noise and just live with the story, and that takes a lot of concentration.”
“I know when the boss calls him and says, ‘Hey, I need you to come in,’ he’s missing something,” Worthington said. “It’s about making it better, stronger, deeper. So just get in touch.”
Avatar: Fire and Ashes is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 19, 2025.
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Source: HIS Education