It takes around three to four minutes to read this case. Actress Kate Winslet could read the case twice while holding her breath during the filming of James Cameron’s new film. – She actually managed to hold her breath for up to seven and a half minutes, says the director eagerly – when news meets him in London. The man who loves water has made another film about water. Several of the scenes in the new film were recorded – quite rightly – underwater. Kate Winslet plays Ronal in the new “Avatar” film. A green person who enjoys the sea. Therefore, she herself had to get used to the water. Photo: Disney “Avatar: The Way of Water” is said to have cost close to four billion kroner to make, is three hours and 12 minutes long and has certain special effects no one has seen the likes of. – Why are you so fiercely ambitious? – Well, why do something others have done before, when you’re going to make something first. He may have taken water over his head, but James Cameron is no fish on land. When the experienced director makes up his mind, he does it properly. The 68-year-old is behind blockbusters such as “Terminator”, “Aliens” – and not least “Titanic”. Also that time with Kate Winslet in one of the leading roles. Kate Winslet, James Cameron and Leonardo DiCaprio after the Oscars in 1998, when “Titanic” won 11 awards. Photo: Mark J. Terrill / AP – Do you also cry when Jack dies at the end in the film you made yourself? – Hehe, yes, I actually get an emotional reaction. Even though I’ve seen “Titanic” a million times. If I don’t feel the emotions, I can’t expect the audience to do the same. James Cameron has proven that he can make movies about sinking ships. But can he also make a film that can save a sinking ship? The cinema industry in deep water Cinema audiences are leaking like a strainer to the streaming services – and sales figures are on the way to rock bottom. One in three Norwegians has disappeared from the cinema this year, compared to the same time in the years before the pandemic. It shows figures from Film and Cinema. The trend is similar in large parts of the world. New habits and a greater offer on the sofa at home are part of the explanation. Can the ambitious director’s 3D film about avatars save a drowning industry? It is not impossible. This is how an Avatar swims. Photo: The Walt Disney Studios The first “Avatar” film, which came out in 2008, is the highest-grossing film in world history. For 13 years, Cameron has been lurking in the water crust to find the perfect time to release the ultimate sequel. Now “Avatar: The Way Of Water” is estimated to take in up to NOK 1.7 billion in the opening weekend – and that in the US alone. In Norway too, many people will probably go around with brands looking for narrow 3D glasses in the run up to Christmas. – Our mission was to make a film, not to save the cinema industry. The director adds: – I don’t think the cinema experience will disappear. But people have to make conscious choices going forward about whether they value that experience. James Cameron is known for being a perfectionist and detail oriented. Here he films scenes for the new film himself. Photo: Mark Fellman / Mark Fellman The Old Man and the Sea Anyone who dives into Cameron’s film catalog will notice that the floating element runs through like a wet red thread. Fire, earth and air can go to sleep. – I have spent so much time under the sea that it is only natural to bring it into my films. The director lifts the glass next to him and points to the contents. – It is not water per se, but the sea that I love. I think the sea is a kind of connection to a subconscious dream state about when we were nine months weightless in water in our mother’s womb. The star director’s zodiac sign is not Aquarius. It should have been. Photo: Mark Fellman / Mark Fellman As most people know: “Titanic” contains a lot of water. But the lesser-known submarine film “The Abyss” also has a mysterious creature made of water, the villain in “Terminator 2” can become floating – and now the blue creatures from “Avatar” will swim for their lives. But hold your breath! Here comes the wildest: When James Cameron was close to 60 years old, he made the documentary “Deepsea Challenge”. In the film, the director went down alone in a tiny submarine to the world’s deepest point, the Mariana Trench. If you had placed Mount Everest and Galdhøpiggen on top of each other, we are talking about 11,000 meters above sea level. The film director went the same distance, but in the opposite direction – to almost 11,000 meters below the sea. Only three people in world history have managed the same. The film director has experienced ups and downs, but here he has just reached a bottom. The world’s deepest bottom point. Photo: MARK THIESSEN / Afp Camer(H₂O)n James Francis Cameron, or “Jim” as he is known among the famous, grew up in the small town of Kapuskasing in Canada. Far from the sea. Nevertheless, the attraction to the sea was enormous, long before he was inundated with offers from Hollywood. – Something happens when I freedive. When the heartbeat calms down and I am part of the silence and feel the weightlessness. Then I get a kind of spiritual connection with the sea. He continues: – It almost seems like it is a primal memory from the evolutionary past of man. We are drawn to the sea and the curiosity about what is down there. For the time being, “Jim” can breathe a sigh of relief. “Avatar: The Way of Water” has been completed and will premiere on December 14. But Cameron is neither finished with the sea nor with filmmaking. Work on the next three “Avatar” films is well under way. It is currently unclear whether these take place above or below the surface. Many have high expectations for “Avatar: The Way of Water”. Photo: The Walt Disney Studios
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