Avatar
Avatar
is a 2009 American film written and directed by James Cameron
and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen
Lang, Joel David Moore, and Michelle Rodriguez. Avatar is
primarily an action-adventure journey of self-discovery, in the context
of imperialism and deep ecology. Cameron said his inspiration was
"every single science fiction book I read as a kid", and that he was
particularly striving to update the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs's John
Carter series. The director has acknowledged that Avatar
shares themes with the films At Play in the Fields of the Lord,
The Emerald Forest, and Princess
Mononoke, which feature clashes between cultures and
civilizations, and with Dances with Wolves, where a battered
soldier finds himself drawn to the culture he was initially fighting
against.
A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of
Pandora, a 224-page book in the form of a field guide to the films
fictional setting of the planet of Pandora, was released by Harper
Entertainment on November 24, 2009. It is presented as a compilation of
data collected by the humans about Pandora and the life on it, written
by Maria Wilhelm and Dirk Mathison. Harper Festival also released
Wilhelm's 48-page James Cameron's Avatar: the Reusable Scrapbook
for children. The Art of Avatar: James Cameron's Epic Adventure
was released on November 30, 2009, by Abrams Books. The book features
detailed production artwork from the film, including production
sketches, illustrations by Lisa Fitzpatrick, and film stills. Producer
Jon Landau wrote the foreword, Cameron wrote the epilogue, and director
Peter Jackson wrote the preface.
In 2006, Cameron stated that if Avatar was successful, he
hoped to make two sequels to the film. In 2010, he said the film's
widespread success confirmed that he will. The prospect of sequels was
something he planned from the start, going so far as to include certain
scenes in the film for future story follow-ups. Cameron said he wants
to make the sequel "cheaper and faster" and that the story will be a
continuation of the characters introduced in Avatar.
