Since Avatar: The Way of Water continues making millions for Disney, the film is unlikely to head to streaming anytime soon. However, when it does, James Cameron has the perfect setup recommendations for audiences to immerse themselves in Pandora's world.
Before Avatar 2's release, Cameron made headlines by stating the movie would have to break into history’s highest-grossing films to break even. Fortunately for many fans hoping for more sequels, that’s exactly what happened. The director's work is paying off much to Cameron's satisfaction, who’s also been quoted saying he’s grown tired of streaming and people need to go back to movie theaters.
Nevertheless, unlike other directors, that doesn’t mean Cameron is absolutist regarding how people prefer to watch his films, as he told NPR. Cameron noted that if one sees Avatar: The Way of Water “at home on a reasonably large flat-screen TV with a decent sound system and you sit close enough and that way across the room, you're going to have a good experience.” In Cameron's opinion, going to the movies is not really about the big screen, it’s about “the perfection of the sound system” along with the commitment to put the phone away for a couple of hours or three in Avatar: The Way of Water's case.
Cameron adds, “that's the critical part that people are missing. You're making a deal between yourself and a piece of art to give it your full attention.” Furthermore, Cameron claims cinemas enhance the emotional experience a film can provide. In the same interview, Cameron reflected on Avatar: The Way of Wate r's success, which, in his opinion, is “not based on its technology.” Instead, he argues people care about these characters.
For those wanting updates on Avatar 3's status, Cameron said that “the shooting scripts are all written,” and the same goes for motion capture and photography, so “it's essentially in post-production” and on track for its December 20, 2024 release. Cameron's opinion heavily contrasts that of other famous directors such as Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino, with the former disliking home viewing, to the point Warner Bros.' Content strategy fractured his relationship with the studio.
As Cameron points out, there’s a case to be made for cinemas' superiority. It’s movies like Avatar: The Way of Water or Top Gun: Maverick that make a more compelling argument for films like these to be screened in theaters as long as possible. Still, if time, money or availability is an issue, Cameron does approve of a solid home theater setup.
Avatar: The Way of Water is now available in theaters.
Source: NPR