Filmmaker James Cameron is currently fleshing out the Avatar Universe to build a strong mythos from which to draw inspiration for his upcoming Avatar Sequels. Actor Sam Worthington who’s set to reprise his role, was recently out on the promotional trail for his upcoming espionage thriller The Debt, and gave an update on how the development of the sequels are progressing.
Christina Radish spoke with Worthington who’s heading to Australia to play a surf photographer in the film Drift, and recently finished work on the sequel to ‘Clash Of The Titans’.
Q: Of all the big films you’ve been a part of, are you surprised that Clash of the Titans is the one that’s getting a sequel first?
Not necessarily because it made a shitload of money. With Jim [Cameron], it comes down to Jim. Titans made a lot of money. A lot of people went and saw it. We’ve just got to make it right. I’ve just finished that. I loved it! I loved that experience. Clash 2 is so different. It was a different experience for me because I’d learned a lot from Clash 1, and I’d learned a lot from other movies. I can’t wait for that to come out. But, I’m not surprised at all.
Q: What do you hear from Jim Cameron about Avatar 2 and 3?
Jim talked to me on my birthday. In regards to Avatar, he’s writing the bible, at the moment, which is a precursor to Avatar 1 and the whole world, basically. I think it’s just to get Jim’s mind back into the characters and back into the world. He’s told me where he wants to take Avatar 2 and 3, and it’s monumental. It’s just huge! But, you’d expect nothing less from him. He’s not going to start it until he’s 100%. I know they’re setting up shop down in Manhattan Beach, and when he says jump, I jump.
Q: Is the idea of doing the second and third film back-to-back exciting for you?
I love it! I’d do 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 with Jim. I love working with him. He raises the bar and gives you the courage to jump over it, and he keeps pushing. He changes your life. He hasn’t just change my life, career wise. He’s changed my life, as a man, which is nice.
Q: In what way?
He makes you stronger, in the sense of being more focused and committed. He’s told me that, if I’m doing this job, I’ve got to challenge myself more, and not listen to anybody else, and not listen to any media or bloggers, but just listen to myself. I’ve got to push myself, or there’s no point in me doing this. If I don’t believe I’m growing, and I believe I’m just coasting, then I’ve got to get off the train. If I feel I’m growing, I have to keep going. It’s a long marathon.
Back in March James Cameron traveled to Brazil’s Amazonian rain forest to do research:
Avatar is a film about the rain forest and its indigenous people. Before I start to shoot the two films I want to bring my actors here, so I can better tell this story… Actors could learn about the natives and what real life in the jungle is like.
On his trip Cameron was also baptised by the chief of caiapo tribe, giving the filmmaker the name “Krapremp-ti”, a term for “man who is s friend of the jungle”. Cameron told reporters that he would use that name on a character in the Avatar sequel. “If I had met the caiapos before making Avatar, I would certainly have made a better film.”
The sequels will be shot at the Manhattan Beach Studio which offers a 580,000-square-foot studio and office facility and houses 15 sound-stages, and will likely become the new home of Cameron’s company, Lightstorm Entertainment. While the studio will provide the necessary floor space for the motion capture shoots, it’s not known if like the original, the live actions scenes will be shot in New Zealand, with WETA digital providing the special effects.
Avatar 2 is scheduled to open Christmas 2014, followed by Avatar 3 in 2015.
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