Avatar is a 2009 American science fiction epic film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez andStephen Lang. The film is set in the year 2154, when humans are mining a precious mineral called unobtanium on Pandora, a lush moon of a giant planet in the Alpha Centauri star system. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi—a sentient humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The film's title refers to thegenetically engineered Na'vi bodies used by several human characters to interact with the natives of Pandora.
Development on Avatar began in 1994, when Cameron wrote an 80-page scriptment for the film. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Cameron's 1997 filmTitanic, for a planned release in 1999, but according to Cameron, the necessary technology was not yet available to portray his vision of the film. Work on the language for the film'sextraterrestrial beings began in summer 2005, and Cameron began developing the script and fictional universe in early 2006.
Avatar was officially budgeted at US$237 million. Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production, and at $150 million for promotion. The film was released for traditional two-dimensional projection, as well as in 3-D, using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D and IMAX 3D formats, and also in 4-D.[15] The film was touted as a breakthrough in filmmaking technology, for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras that were specially designed for the film's production.
Avatar premiered in London on December 10, 2009, and was released internationally on December 16, and in North America on December 18, to critical acclaim and commercial success. The film broke several box office records during its release and became the highest-grossing film of all time in North America and worldwide, surpassing Titanic, which had held the records for the previous 12 years. It also became the first film to gross more than $2 billion. Following the film's success, Cameron stated that there will be a sequel. Avatar has been nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Cast and Characters
Humans
- Sam Worthington as Corporal Jake Sully. Sully, the film's protagonist, is a disabled former Marine who becomes part of the Avatar Program. His military background helps the Na'vi warriors relate to him. Cameron cast the Australian actor after a worldwide search for promising young actors, preferring relative unknowns to keep the budget down.[30][dead link] Worthington, who was living in his car at the time,[31] auditioned twice early in development,[32] and he has signed on for possible sequels.[33] Cameron felt that because Worthington had not done a major film, he was "game for anything", giving the character "a quality that is really real. He has that quality of being a guy you'd want to have a beer with, and he ultimately becomes a leader who transforms the world".[34]
- Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine. Augustine is an exobiologist and head of the Avatar Program. She mentors Sully and is an advocate of peaceful relations with the Na'vi, having set up a school to teach them English.[35] Weaver dyed her hair red for the part.[36]
- Michelle Rodriguez as Trudy Chacón. Chacón is a combat pilot assigned to support the Avatar Program who is sympathetic to the Na'vi. Cameron had wanted to work with Rodriguez since seeing her in Girlfight.[37]
- Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge. Selfridge is the corporate administrator for the RDA mining operation and one of the film's primary antagonists.[38] Despite being the human in charge of the mining project, he only reluctantly authorises the attacks on the Na'vi after being persuaded by Quaritch that it is necessary, and the attacks will be humane. When the attacks are broadcast to the base, Selfridge displays discomfort at the violence.
- Joel David Moore as Norm Spellman. Spellman is an anthropologist[39] who studies plant and nature life as part of the Avatar Program. He arrives on Pandora at the same time as Sully and operates an avatar. Although he is expected to lead the diplomatic contact with the Na'vi, it turns out that Jake has the personality more calculated to win the natives' respect.
- Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch. Quaritch is the head of the mining operation's security detail. Fiercely loyal to his military code, he has a profound disregard for Pandora's inhabitants and serves as the film's primary antagonist. Lang had unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in Cameron's Aliens (1986), but the director remembered Lang and sought him for Avatar.[37] Michael Biehn, who was in Aliens, read the script and watched some of the 3D footage with Cameron,[40] but was ultimately not cast in the role.
- Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel, a scientist who works in the Avatar Program.[41]
Na'vi
- Zoe Saldana as Neytiri. Neytiri is the film's female Na'vi protagonist, princess of the Omaticaya, the Na'vi clan central to the story, who is attracted to Jake because of his bravery.[42] The character, like all the Na'vi, was created using performance capture, and its visual aspect is entirely computer generated.[43] Saldana has also signed on for potential sequels.[44]
- C. C. H. Pounder as Mo'at. Mo'at is the Omaticaya's spiritual leader, Neytiri's mother, and consort to clan leader Eytucan.[45]
- Laz Alonso as Tsu'tey. Tsu'tey is heir to the chieftainship of the tribe, and at the beginning of the film's story, he is betrothed to Neytiri.
- Wes Studi as Eytucan. Eytucan is the Omaticaya's clan leader, Neytiri's father and Mo'at's mate.
In 1994, director James Cameron wrote a 80-page scriptment for Avatar.[7] In August 1996, Cameron announced that after completing Titanic, he would film Avatar, which would make use of synthetic, or computer-generated, actors.[9] The project would cost $100 million and involve at least six actors in leading roles "who appear to be real but do not exist in the physical world".[46] Visual effects house Digital Domain, with whom Cameron has a partnership, joined the project, which was supposed to begin production in the summer of 1997 for a 1999 release.[8] However, Cameron felt that the technology had not caught up with the story and vision that he intended to tell. He decided to concentrate on making documentaries and refining the technology for the next few years.
In June 2005, Cameron was announced to be working on a project tentatively titled Project 880, concurrently with another project, Battle Angel.[47] It was later revealed in a Bloomberg BusinessWeek cover story that 20th Century Fox had fronted $10 million to Cameron to film a proof-of-concept clip for Avatar, which he showed to Fox execs in October 2005.[48] By December, Cameron said that he planned to film Battle Angel first for a mid 2007 release, and to film Project 880 for a 2009 release.[49] In February 2006, Cameron said he had switched goals for the two film projects – Project 880 was now scheduled for 2007 and Battle Angel for 2009. He indicated that the release of Project 880 would possibly be delayed until 2008.[50]
Later that February, Cameron revealed that Project 880 was "a retooled version of Avatar", a film that he had tried to make years earlier,[51] citing the technological advances in the creation of the computer-generated charactersGollum, King Kong and Davy Jones.[7] Cameron had chosen Avatar over Battle Angel after completing a five-day camera test in the previous yea
