“Avatar” is a beautiful movie, with a captivating story full of twists, losses and overcoming, which was released in 2009.
But did you know that James Cameron, director and screenwriter of the film, wrote it even before Titanic was released in 1997?
Cameron is a director known for not making so many films in his career, but when he does, he achieves unimaginable successes.
With Avatar it was no different: Bringing a beautiful story, he also resurfaced in the cinema a technology that was already forgotten: 3D.
3D had already been used in the 1950s, but it was obsolete for many decades.
Movies theaters in the 50s
Nowadays many people are tired of watching 3D movies in theaters, that’s because movies are no longer filmed with technology, but rather, they are transformed into 3D after being filmed.
That’s why, in current movies, there are two or three scenes that actually work in 3D throughout the entire movie.
At the time of Avatar it wasn’t like that: The movie was designed and filmed to feel the technology perfectly. And it worked! To this day it is considered the best film that took advantage of this technique.
The film tells the story of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), who was left paraplegic after combat on Earth.
When his brother dies, Jake is selected to replace him in the Avatar program and travels to Pandora, an extraterrestrial moon, where he encounters various forms of life. The place is also home to the Na’Vi, humanoid beings who, despite being primitive, have greater physical capacity than humans.
Humans wish to explore the moon in order to find valuable metals, which makes the Na’Vi improve their warrior skills. Since they cannot breathe Pandora’s air, humans create hybrid beings called Avatars.
They are commanded by humans, through technology that allows their thoughts to be applied to the Avatar’s body.
In this way, Jake can walk again and help lead the soldiers. Until he meets Neyiti (Zoe Saldana), a Na’Vi he accidentally meets and who serves as a tutor for his setting in the alien civilization.
Let’s get to know 10 curiosities of this absolute classic:
1 – RESPECTED DIRECTOR
Avatar’s director is James Cameron. Don’t you remember him? Cameron is the director of many classics that were part of his life, such as “Terminator” 1 and 2, “Alien 2”, “True Lies”, and of course, “Titanic”!
Titanic (1997)
2 – CAMERON TOOK YEARS TO RELEASE AVATAR
James Cameron began writing the screenplay in 1995, but the technology needed to make it was not yet available.
Cameron wanted to have made the film in 1999, but the special effects would have cost an additional $400 million dollars, so the film was delayed by 10 years. Even so, the film is one of the most expensive ever made.
The film is 40% real actors and 60% computer generated imagery.
Cameron decided that CGI technology had evolved enough when he saw Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002).
Gollum (The Lord of the Rings)
3 – ACTORS HAD TO SPEND TIME IN REAL TRIBES
To prepare the actors, Cameron took the entire crew to Hawaii.
They spent their days living like a tribe: fishing, making fires, because since the film was going to be made entirely in the studio, the director wanted the actors to have an idea of what it would be like to live on Pandora.
Actress Zoe Saldana even spent these days dressed as a warrior and with a fake tail.
But only during the day. During the night they were staying at a luxury hotel.
4 – THE FILM CREATED A WHOLE NEW LANGUAGE
The Na’vi language was created from scratch.
Cameron hired a linguist, asking him to create a language that was easy for the actors to pronounce but didn’t sound like anything on Earth. 1000 words were created.
5 – A PRECIOUS METAL
The precious metal in the film, called “Unobtanium” is a joke in the space industry. It is used to describe a material that is chemically perfect and without flaws, but which does not exist or is very expensive.
It is often used in science fiction to name a metal that is needed to build a device crucial to the plot.
6 – REFERENCES WITH POCAHONTAS
Jake Sully’s initials are the same as those of John Smith, a British explorer who fell in love with Pocahontas.
John Smith (Pocahontas)
7 – AVATAR WAS HIGHLY RECOGNIZED AT AWARDS
Avatar, in addition to earning a lot of money, fans and wonderful reviews, took home many awards.
There were two Golden Globes, in the categories of Best Film and Best Director. Two BAFTA awards, in the categories of Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects.
It also won three Oscars, in the categories of Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects.
8 – JAMES CAMERON RUN WITH HIS EX-WIFE IN THE OSCAR
Cameron was once married to Kathryn Bigelow (director of the Oscar-winning “The Hurt Locker”), who was his main contender at the 2010 Oscars.
Kathryn Bigelow (Oscar 2010)
9 – THE BIGGEST BOX OFFICE IN THE HISTORY OF CINEMA
Avatar had a budget of approximately $220 million, making it one of the most expensive films in history.
But I’m sure that after the huge success in theaters, the studio didn’t complain, as Avatar just grossed $2.847 billion worldwide!
10 – THE TWO BIGGEST TICKETS IN THE WORLD ARE BY JAMES CAMERON
The biggest box office in the world was “Titanic”, with $2.202 billion, one of Cameron’s most acclaimed films.
She was only beaten 12 years later, by another film by the same director. And what movie would that be? Yes, Avatar!
Avatar is an extremely beautiful film, with incredible teachings and that was made with a lot of love and care, and of course, it deserved all the awards, fans and positive reviews it received.
And you? Do you love “Avatar” too?