Avatar
Enter the world of Pandora.
Avatar (2009)
Production
Budget
$237 000 000
Revenue
$2 923 706 026
Director
Scenario
Composer
Producer
Actors
Sam Worthington
Jake Sully
Zoe Saldaña
Neytiri
Sigourney Weaver
Dr. Grace Augustine
Stephen Lang
Colonel Miles Quaritch
Michelle Rodriguez
Trudy Chacon
Giovanni Ribisi
Parker Selfridge
Joel David Moore
Norm Spellman
CCH Pounder
Mo'at
Short description
In the 22nd century, Earth is short of energy, and a corporation runs a mining operation on Pandora, a moon rich in a valuable mineral. Jake Sully, a former Marine who uses a wheelchair, travels there to take the place of his dead twin brother in a scientific program. Humans cannot breathe Pandora's air, so researchers grow hybrid bodies that combine human and native Na'vi traits and can be controlled remotely. Through his avatar, Jake is meant to gather information and help win the trust of the local population. As he learns the ways of the Na'vi and grows close to Neytiri, a warrior and the chief's daughter, he finds himself caught between his orders and the world he has come to see as his own.
James Cameron directed and wrote the film, his tenth of fifteen features in release order, following Aliens of the Deep and preceding Avatar: The Way of Water. Sam Worthington plays Jake, with Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri, Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Giovanni Ribisi in supporting roles.
Made for about 237 million US dollars, it was released in December 2009 and became the highest-grossing film of its time, taking roughly 2.92 billion dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.9/10 from 1.5 million votes, and on TMDB 7.6/10 from around 35,000; a critics' rating of 7.8/10 comes from 335 reviews, close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- August 21, 2009, was declared 'World Avatar Day'. On this day, a 15-minute fragment of the film was shown around the planet.
- The events of the film unfold on Pandora, a moon with an environment similar to Earth's, orbiting the gas giant planet Polyphemus in the Alpha Centauri-A system.
- James Cameron originally planned to release the film in 1999. However, considering the complexity and scale of the special effects Cameron intended to create, the film's budget would have been around $400 million. Even despite the enormous box office success of 'Titanic' (1997), no studio could afford to allocate such funds. The project was shelved for about 10 years.
- Michael Biehn was considered for one of the roles in the film. He met with James Cameron several times. However, James did not want the film to be associated by viewers with 'Aliens' (1986), as Sigourney Weaver had already signed a contract to star.
- Cameron conceived the film's plot and wrote the first draft of the screenplay in 1995.
- For the film, Cameron developed a special technology that allowed him to see computer-generated characters alongside live actors on screen during filming.
- The film's premiere was moved from summer to December 2009. However, the delay was not due to technical difficulties in production, but rather to give cinemas extra time to prepare for the 3D release of the film.
- The film consists of 40% live-action footage and 60% realistic computer graphics.
- In Cameron's original screenplay, the foliage of the plants was the same blue as the Na'vi skin, but he ultimately decided to use green for greater realism.
- Most of the film's episodes with natural movement were shot in Wellington, New Zealand, where enormous sets were constructed. It was akin to a real large-scale construction project. A massive substructure was created using over 150 construction contractors to build the sets.
- The practical sets include the Communications Room, which houses sarcophagus-like structures used to transfer a person's consciousness into an avatar's body, the Biolab – a room for scientists to work and a storage space for tanks containing amniotic fluid, where the bodies of avatars that have reached maturity after a six-year journey from Earth to Pandora are kept; the Control Center, representing the central nervous system of the 'Hell's Gate' base, and the Armor Bay military bastion, where powered exosuits and helicopters are stored.
- Cameron brought Paul Frommer, a linguist from the University of Southern California, onto the team to create the Na'vi language, spoken by the blue-skinned inhabitants of Pandora. To facilitate the director's choice, Frommer recorded numerous sound samples on a dictaphone. Cameron settled on abrupt consonants and staccato phrases, slightly reminiscent of muffled speech. Several months were spent composing the grammar alone. Frommer distributed a brochure titled 'Speaking Na'vi' to the 'Avatar' actors and began teaching them the correct pronunciation of the new language. Cameron also invited other experts to collaborate – astrophysicists, a music professor, and an archaeologist. These specialists calculated the density of Pandora's atmosphere and established a three-part structure for the music of the aliens.
- In a conversation with Jake Sully, the colonel casually mentions that he participated in operations involving the American military contingent in Venezuela and Nigeria and miraculously survived. Consequently, the film's events take place after the US invasion of these countries. Both are rich in oil and other mineral resources in our reality.
- At a meeting before the decisive battle, Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) announces that the operation to subdue the Na'vi has been codenamed "Shock and Awe." This was the name of the military doctrine of the American contingent in the Middle East, specifically developed for the invasion of Iraq.
- Interestingly, the avatars of humans have five fingers, while the inhabitants of Pandora have only four.
- Even before the film's release, the "Dances with Gnomes" episode of the animated series "South Park" featured a satire on the creation and plot of the film.
- The studio initially planned to cast Matt Damon or Jake Gyllenhaal for the role of Jake, but Cameron insisted on Sam Worthington.
- The first film to gross over 2 billion dollars at the box office.
- The gas used by the military to subdue the Na'vi is called CM-20. In the film “Aliens” (1986) (also directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver), Vasquez suggests using CM-20 nerve gas to attack the Alien hive.
- Sam Worthington was invited to audition by phone. The caller didn’t tell him a single word about the plot and didn’t even reveal the director’s name. Sam was disappointed, as he thought it was just another waste of time.
- Jodie Foster was considered for the role of Dr. Grace Augustine.
- The year is never explicitly stated in the film, but Jake’s video blog shows the year 2154. The final battle took place in August 2154, 200 years after James Cameron’s birth.
- Creating the film required approximately 1 petabyte of disk space (1024 terabytes)... For comparison, all the special effects for “Titanic” took up 500 times less space, about 2 terabytes.
- The first line from "Avatar" that all Earthlings heard upon arriving on Pandora – "You are not in Kansas anymore!" – comes from the English idiom 'not in Kansas anymore,' meaning 'no longer in a familiar environment, not at home.' This expression originated in 1939, after the release of "The Wizard of Oz" (1939), when Dorothy, finding herself in the Land of Oz, says: "Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore."
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
