Much like his fellow directing legend Ridley Scott, James Cameron is not one to mince words on a press tour. Regarding the seeming lack of cultural impact made by Avatar since it was released 13 years ago, Cameron is not worried. He seems confident that audiences will come back for the sequel being released in December 2022, and says he doesn’t care if you have to have a toilet break during the movie.
Speaking to Empire for their Avatar: The Way of Water issue, Cameron said; “The trolls will have it that nobody gives a shit and they can’t remember the characters’ names or one damn thing that happened in the movie. Then they see the movie again and go, ‘Oh, okay, excuse me, let me just shut the fuck up right now.’ So I’m not worried about that.”
He continued; “I don’t want anybody whining about length when they sit and binge-watch [television] for eight hours. I can almost write this part of the review. ‘The agonisingly long three-hour movie…’ It’s like, give me a fucking break.”
Cameron concluded; “I’ve watched my kids sit and do five one-hour episodes in a row. Here’s the big social paradigm shift that has to happen: it’s okay to get up and go pee.” Like Tom Cruise, Cameron has been a big proponent of the theatrical experience and is determined to make something that can only be fully experienced in theatres.
Cameron is known for his long run-times. Aliens and Terminator 2 were both 2 hours 17 mins, and The Abyss and True Lies were 2 hours 20 mins. The first Avatar was 2 hours 42 mins and Titanic was a whopping 3 hours 14 mins – but that didn’t stop it from being the highest-grossing movie for thirteen years, until it was overtaken by – you guessed it – Avatar. The Avatar sequel does not have a confirmed run-time yet, but will be around the three hour mark.
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