James Cameron reported that “Avatar: The Way Of Water” was originally supposed to be ten minutes longer, but the footage glorifying gun violence was cut.
The three-hour epic was released earlier this month along with the sequel to Avatar 2009 and tells the story of former soldier Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), his partner Neytiri (Zoe Saldanha) and their children in a new adventure on Pandora.
In an interview with Esquire, Cameron (who directed and co-wrote the script) admitted that he “actually cut about 10 minutes of the film” dedicated to the “shootout.”
“I look back at some of the films I’ve made, and I don’t know if I’d like to do this movie now,” Cameron explained. “I do not know if I would like to fetishize weapons, as I did in a couple of Terminator films more than 30 years ago, in our current world. What is happening with guns in our society makes me sick.”
“I am happy to live in New Zealand, where two weeks after the horrific mosque shooting a couple of years ago, all assault rifles were banned,” he said.
Speaking about Avatar: The Way of Water, Cameron added: “I wanted to get rid of some ugliness, to find a balance between light and darkness. Of course, you must have a conflict,” he continued. “Violence and action are the same thing, depending on how you look at it. This is the dilemma of every creator of action movies, and I am known as the creator of action movies.”
In a four – star review , NME wrote: “Bigger, bolder and definitely better than the original, Avatar: The Way of Water pushes the technical boundaries of cinema without feeling like a scientific experiment. It really needs to be seen on the largest possible screen through a pair of clunky 3D glasses. However, unlike its predecessor, you won’t forget this experience in a hurry.”
The sequel to Avatar: The Way of Water, tentatively titled Avatar 3, is scheduled to be released on December 20, 2024. Filming of the third part was completed in December 2020, after it was filmed in parallel with Avatar: The Way. About water in New Zealand to avoid aging problems in the style of “Stranger Things” with younger actors.
Two more sequels are planned after Avatar 3, which are scheduled for release on December 18, 2026 and December 22, 2028, respectively, although they may be canceled if the series does not have box office receipts.
