James Cameron Is Not Attending The Premiere Of Avatar 2
This article is more than 2 years old
James Cameron wasn’t able to make the Hollywood premiere of his new film Avatar 2 last night due to a COVID diagnosis. Cameron told Deadline “I am in LA, just back from Tokyo, and I managed to pick up Covid on the plane, so I’m isolated and can’t go to my own premiere tonight.” Fortunately, a rep from Disney said that he is “feeling fine.”
While it’s unlucky that James Cameron couldn’t attend the premiere of Avatar 2, it’s good to hear that COVID isn’t making him too sick. Out of all the reasons to miss a premiere, coming down with a highly contagious illness is definitely a valid one. Avatar: The Way of Water is undoubtedly going to be one of his most successful films yet, so at least he’ll have that to make the FOMO sting a little less.
Although James Cameron couldn’t make it to the red carpet, there were plenty of stars from Avatar 2 who were able to show up to the party. Amongst the celebrities in attendance were Kate Winslet, Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Edie Falco, and Jemaine Clement. The review embargo for Avatar: The Way of Water was also lifted this morning, and it’s definitely good news so far.
At the time of writing, James Cameron has a Rotten Tomatoes 84% certified fresh rating for his efforts on Avatar 2. Of course, the incredible visual spectacle and Cameron’s penchant for staging action have been getting a lot of praise. It appears that the story is a little generic, much like the first film, but the immersive movie-going experience more than makes up for it.
James Cameron waited over a decade to bring us back to Pandora in Avatar 2, and the story picks up with Jake Sully (Worthington) and Neytiri (Saldana) raising a family of their own. However, an old threat in the form of Steven Lang’s Quaritch returns to wreak havoc in their lives once again. The film also introduces us to the Metkayina tribe of Pandoran natives, who base much of their life around the sea.
If you’re one of the many who are going to make the trip to see James Cameron bring Avatar 2 to the big screen, just make sure you’re ready for a 190-minute ride. Cameron also encourages bathroom breaks if you need them (which many will) because you can just catch the scenes you miss the next time you come to see the movie. Cameron is just as confident as ever with his latest cinematic effort and, judging by the early reactions, it seems like the confidence is earned.
If James Cameron makes box office history again with Avatar 2, you can count on seeing plenty more Avatar efforts in the future. Avatar 3 has already done a lot of its filming, but Cameron has said that the planned Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 sequels will depend on the performance of Avatar: The Way of Water. However, we are talking about James Cameron here, so it would be unwise to bet against him when it comes to box office dollars.
You can see if Avatar 2 was worth the wait this week. The film is coming to theaters on December 16. Just make sure you don’t have COVID if you’re going to go.
