‘Avatar: Fire And Ash’: James Cameron warns fans it might not be what they “signed up for”
James Cameron has warned fans that the forthcoming Avatar: Fire And Ash might not be what they “signed up for”.
The title for the third film in the franchise was announced last August and is set for release on December 19, following 2009’s Avatar and sequel Avatar: The Way Of Water, which was released in 2022.
Speaking about the latest instalment, in a new interview with Empire magazine, Cameron said his goal isn’t to replicate what was done in the previous two films but instead to make “brave choices” that might not necessarily be expected.
He said: “It’s a tricky thing. We could be getting high on our own supply here, and everybody who looks at it goes, ‘Fuck, that’s not what I signed up for.’ But if you’re not making brave choices, you’re wasting everybody’s time and money. That alone is not sufficient to create success, but it’s necessary. You’ve got to break the mould every fricking time.”
Cameron also revealed that audiences can look forward to high-intensity situations, noting that while they may get taken to “places they won’t expect,” those places “will feel earned.”
He added: “We’ve got some really clever action set-pieces. You can get your blood up in this movie. But what excites me as an artist who recently turned 70 and has kind of done all that stuff is not only the opportunity to get to do it again, but to get to a level of character and intrigue you haven’t seen before in an Avatar movie.”
As for the current progress of the movie, Cameron went on: “It’s in strong shape, I think. We’ve doubled the number of shots finished at this stage of the game than we had on movie two [and] the films are about equal length. So that puts us well ahead of the curve, which is something I’ve never, frankly, experienced before.”
Elsewhere, he recently confirmed that Michelle Yeoh will not be starring in the movie but she will feature in its sequel.
Yeoh was first announced to join the Avatar franchise in 2019. She will take on the role of Dr. Karina Mogue.
Cameron previously revealed he shot scenes for the third and fourth films in the franchise in advance to avoid Stranger Things-style ageing issues with the younger cast members. He also previously revealed that he was prepared to end the franchise after the third film if The Way Of Water wasn’t a box office success.
In a four-star review of Avatar: The Way Of Water for NME, Ali Shutler wrote: “Bigger, bolder and definitely better than the original, Avatar: The Way Of Water pushes the technical boundaries of cinema without feeling like a science experiment. It really does need to be seen on the biggest screen possible through a pair of awkward 3D glasses. Unlike its predecessor though, you won’t forget this experience in a hurry.”
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Damian Jones
NME
