Guillermo del Toro Has Seen AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH and Says It’s Going to “Surprise a Lot of People”
The legendary Frankenstein filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has been a longtime admirer of James Cameron, and it turns out he’s already seen Avatar: Fire and Ash, and he’s seriously impressed.
"I’ve seen the three Avatars. They are absolute masterpieces. I know where it’s going and I think it’s going to surprise a lot of people," said del Toro during an interview with Konbini Video, France’s version of the Criterion Closet.
Del Toro went on to praise Cameron’s ability to craft entire worlds, putting him in the same league as George Lucas and The Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum.
"I can’t say anything about [the third], but I can say there are very few Americans who have created an entire mythology," del Toro said. "You have [George] Lucas. You have the entire Wizard of Oz mythology with Frank Baum. Jim is creating that with Avatar, and he’s going to take you places."
Avatar: Fire and Ash will take audiences back to Pandora, where Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) have settled with the Metkayina Clan following the events of Avatar: The Way of Water. But peace never lasts long on Pandora.
The couple and their family will come face-to-face with a fierce new Na’vi tribe known as the Ash People, led by the warrior Varang, who allies himself with the returning Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang).
The story will expand beyond Fire and Ash as Cameron has already started developing Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, with release dates currently set for 2029 and 2031. The Avatar 3 cast also includes Sigourney Weaver, Oona Chaplin, Cliff Curtis, and Joel David Moore.
Meanwhile, del Toro has been busy creating a cinematic world of his own. His latest film Frankenstein reimagines Mary Shelley’s classic tale, and it ended up being a great movie!
Starring Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Creature, the movie is a hauntingly personal interpretation of the iconic story.
Between Cameron’s expanding Avatar universe and del Toro’s emotionally charged Frankenstein, both directors are proving that world-building and storytelling are still alive and thriving in modern cinema.
Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters on December 19th.