Avatar is an otherworldly franchise with global appeal.
Disney Legend James Cameron‘s Avatar was released theatrically in 2009 and went on to gross more than $2.9 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. Adored by audiences and critics alike, the film went on to receive nine Academy Award® nominations, winning for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects, and was also honored with two Golden Globes® Awards, for Best Film – Drama and Best Director. Thirteen years later, Avatar: The Way of Water captivated moviegoers again, grossing more than $2.3 billion worldwide and winning the Oscar® for Best Visual Effects.
“Avatar represents everything that makes cinema one of the most enduring and powerful art forms of the last 100 years,” Steve Asbell, President, 20th Century Studios, said in the video (above). “It’s got spectacle, it’s got world creation, it’s got action, it’s got humor, and at the center of it, it has a deeply emotional story about a family that we can all relate to.”
The third installment in the franchise, Avatar: Fire and Ash, opens in theaters on Friday, December 19, and continues the story of the complex and dynamic Sully family on Pandora.
Cameron — the director, writer, producer, and editor behind the blockbuster film franchise — said, “I always think of the films as aspirational in the sense that, ‘I’d love to go there!'”
Since 2017, guests visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park at Walt Disney World Resort have been able to do just that at Pandora – The World of Avatar, a land that celebrates the power of nature through immersive, innovative attractions and experiences.
The goal was to create a “sense of awe and wonder,” Chris Beatty, Portfolio Creative Director, Walt Disney Imagineering, said. “Avatar and Disney’s Animal Kingdom both share a common thread — that we are all connected by nature. That is one of the core tenants, or pillars, of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, making Avatar the perfect brand for this park.”
Avatar will expand its presence across Disney Parks, with the current Hollywood Backlot area at Disney’s California Adventure becoming home to a new Avatar destination. This project is still in early development, and additional details will be revealed at a later date.
But first, the world of Avatar will expand onscreen when Avatar: Fire and Ash — starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Edie Falco, David Thewlis, Jemaine Clement, Giovanni Ribisi, Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion, Brendan Cowell, Bailey Bass, Kate Winslet, and others — is released in theaters.
As Asbell said in the video above, “I don’t know if you say the big screen exists for this movie or this movie exists for the big screen — but it is the reason to go to the movies.”
