James Cameron has revealed that he did not hesitate to shut down 20th Century Fox executives when they tried to battle him over key sequences in the 2009 hit film "Avatar."
In an interview with The New York Times, the director explained that the studio wanted him to shorten the film and trim the movie's flying sequences, but Cameron shrugged the requests off by reminding the execs that he directed "Titanic," which paid for a large portion of the 20th Century Fox studio lot.
"I think I felt, at the time, that we clashed over certain things," Cameron said.
"For example, the studio felt that the film should be shorter and that there was too much flying around on the ikran — what the humans call the banshees. Well, it turns out that's what the audience loved the most, in terms of our exit polling and data gathering. And that's a place where I just drew a line in the sand and said, 'You know what? I made 'Titanic.' This building that we're meeting in right now? This new half-billion dollar complex on your lot? 'Titanic' paid for that, so I get to do this.'"
"Avatar" earned more than $2 billion worldwide and remains the highest-grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office. With this in mind, Cameron said that once the film was released, the studio thanked him.
"I feel that my job is to protect their investment, often against their own judgment. But as long as I protect their investment, all is forgiven," he said.
Cameron added that he felt positive about the creative decisions he made for the film.
"It's such an intense process when you're editing a film and you have to fight for every frame that stays in," he told the Times.
"I felt pretty good about the creative decisions that were made back then. We spent a lot of time and energy improving our process in the decade-plus since. But there's certainly nothing cringeworthy.
"I can see tiny places where we've improved facial-performance work. But it doesn't take you out. I think it's still competitive with everything that's out there these days."
Earlier this year, during an interview with Empire, Cameron unflinchingly hit back at criticism over his box-office hit which, despite its success, has been trashed online.
"The trolls will have it that nobody gives a s*** and they can't remember the characters' names or one damn thing that happened in the movie," he said. "Then they see the movie again and go, Oh, OK, excuse me, let me just shut the f*** up right now. So I'm not worried about that."
Cameron also dismissed concerns people had about supersized cinema run times. The original "Avatar" film comes in at around 160 minutes while its sequel, "The Way Of Water," clocks in at around three hours.
"I don't want anybody whining about length when they sit and binge-watch [television] for eight hours," he said. "I can almost write this part of the review. The agonizingly long three-hour movie … It's like, give me a f****** break. 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 OK to get up and go pee."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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