James Cameron justifies the simultaneous shooting of Avatar 2, 3 and 4

Avatar aims to become one of the most ambitious film franchises of all time with a series of movies that includes at least five installments. This was explained some time ago by its director, James Cameron, whose latest statements even pointed to a sixth and seventh installment. In any case, a project of such magnitude needs almost surgical planning, so measures have already been taken since the sequel Avatar: The Way of Water. In fact, Cameron himself has explained why Avatar 2, Avatar 3, and part of Avatar 4 have been filmed simultaneously in recent years: to avoid the so-called "Stranger Things effect."

The Avatar saga and the inevitable passing of time

This was reported by Entertainment Weekly through statements made by the filmmaker himself, in which he explains that the simultaneous shooting of several installments is not only to save costs but also to prevent some of the main characters, especially the younger ones, from growing too much over the years. This mainly affects Jack Champion, Spider in the film, who participated in the production between the ages of 14 and 16:

"I love Stranger Things, but you get the Stranger Things effect where they're supposed to still be in high school, and they look like they're 27,” mentioned Cameron. While Jack Champion was “growing like a weed We shot with Jack when he was 14 and 15, almost up to 16. So we were shooting him over an 18-month period.”

Full screen

All to avoid that between the beginning and end of the same film or between several installments in which not much time elapses, the same actor or actress looks very different physically due to the inevitable passing of time and the natural development of human beings. In this sense, and during the filming, he had to appeal directly to the New Zealand government to allow the entry of some actors to continue filming and prevent them from looking too old:

"I was imagining scenarios where we don't go back to work for a year and a half, and we're completely screwed because he's aged out, and then we have to go back and reshoot with another guy," the director admits of the role of Spider. " We were able to appeal to the New Zealand government to let in a small group of our key [actors] so that we could bring the production back. We jump as many years as we need to jump. Page 35 of the script in movie 4," Cameron concludes. Is he talking about a big-time jump with a fully-grown Spider for part four?

Source | Entertainment Weekly