James Cameron is doing 3D right again with Avatar: The Way of Water, and he doesn’t want studios making movies with dressed-up 3D.
The arrival of Avatar in 2009 inadvertently sparked a rush of movies trying to monetize using 3D, where audiences didn’t have to see everything through retro blue and red glasses. As the man behind the best-selling movie of all time, James Cameron isn’t a fan of the way studios tried to jump on the 3D train by associating 3D elements with movies just to charge a little extra for tickets.
It’s not unfair to say that Avatar since a movie doesn’t have an exceptional storyline, and while it’s played well, there’s nothing unexpected from the exceptional ensemble cast. What made it an almost unmissable cinematic event came down to the unprecedented 3D rendering, which was practically a unique experience at the time. Now Cameron is doing it all over again with Avatar: The way of the waterand as we discuss the sequel with The New York Times, he took a moment to talk about how studios are “ruining” it. He said:
“I think the studios screwed up. In order to save only 20 percent of the 3D design costs, they switched to 3D post-conversion, which takes it off the set of the filmmaker and puts it into a post-production process that creates a I think the new ‘Avatar’ movie will rekindle interest in native author 3D, and that’s what I personally think is the right way to do it I say or do 3D or don’t 3D, but try not to fold it afterwards to get the extra cost on the ticket.
Can Avatar 2 Interested in breathing new life into 3D movies?
In the early 2010s, it was hard to go to a movie theater to watch a 2D version of a movie without seeing something pointing at the screen with a stick or a rogue tree branch leaning across the screen without other reason than to hit a 3D version in the adjacent screen with a bit of post production 3D included for an extra few bucks. The question if Avatar: The way of the water will lead to a similar outcome this time is difficult to predict in the current climate.
With many movies managing to bring in a lot of money without the added gimmick and expense of 3D technology, it’s quite possible that studios just don’t feel like following. Avatar 2 along the route of a longer production time for very little return. However, as the Hollywood machine continues to recover from the Covid pandemic shutdowns, a surge in profits from a new wave of 3D movies could prove to be a draw many can’t resist if Avatar: The way of the water becomes one of the biggest movies of the year when it hits theaters on December 16.