James Cameron had 'conflicts' with FOX executives over flying sequences in 'Avatar: The Way of Water'

In a recent interview, Cameron noted that he had a big conflict with FOX executives over some flying sequences in the movie
PUBLISHED JAN 2, 2023
James Cameron attends the world premiere of "Avatar: The Way of Water" at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
James Cameron attends the world premiere of "Avatar: The Way of Water" at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: James Cameron’s ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ continues its golden run at the box office and made a lot of money in the third week of its release as well. The movie ended 2022 as the second-highest-grossing movie globally, only behind Tom Cruise’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and is in no mood to slow down. Even after being more than 3 hours long, the second movie in the ‘Avatar’ franchise seems to be a thrilling ride for everyone. However, fans would have missed a lot of epic sequences if Cameron wouldn’t fight for his own production.

Ever since it was announced that ‘The Way of Water’ will be more than 190 minutes long, viewers were having doubts in their minds if Cameron will be able to replicate the success of the original film and give them an experience that would be remembered by one and all. The filmmaker blew everyone’s minds and received universal acclaim. But Cameron got into a conflict with the studios over some scenes that they felt were “unnecessary” for the plot.

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A still from 'Avatar: The Way of Water' (20th Century Studios)
A still from 'Avatar: The Way of Water' (20th Century Studios)

In an interview with The Wrap, the 68-year-old director opened up about the movie and noted executives from the 20th Century Fox requested him to cut a few of the flying sequences, which they thought didn’t do anything to “advance the plot”. Cameron was not happy to hear that and didn’t shy away from giving an answer that made the executives understand why those scenes were really important.

“We got into a big conflict with the studio brass at Fox on the first film because they kept saying stuff like, ‘Well you can cut out all that flying stuff, we don’t need all that. That doesn’t advance the plot.’ I’m like, ‘You’re absolutely correct, it doesn’t advance the plot. It’s doing something completely else. It’s allowing people to enjoy the moment,” Cameron told The Wrap.

Official still from 'Avatar: The Way of Water' (20th Century Studios)
Official still from 'Avatar: The Way of Water' (20th Century Studios)

People who have seen the movie will realize how gorgeous those flying sequences were and gave viewers an opportunity to be a part of Pandora in the most epic way possible. Those sequences are one of the most important reasons why fans are loving the movie because of the way they have been shot and how important they actually are to the story.

As far as the box office is concerned, ‘The Way of Water’ won the New Year’s weekend and earned $63.4 million over its third weekend domestically, achieving an unprecedented box office drop of 0%. Analysts believe that this monumental feat achieved by the movie guarantees that the movie is destined to earn over $2 billion globally. According to the latest figures, the movie’s domestic tally has reached $440.5 million while it ended 2022 as the highest-grossing Hollywood movie internationally with earnings of $956.9 million.

As of writing this story, the movie has earned over $1.39 billion worldwide.

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is currently playing in theatres.

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