James Cameron Says He Deleted 10 Minutes of Gun Violence in AVATAR 2 Saying It Makes His Stomach Sick
Director James Cameron’s highly-anticipated sequel Avatar: The Way of Water has finally hit theaters to exceptional reviews. This comes as little surprise as the first film was a record-breaking phenomenon that shattered the box office ceiling and set a new bar for virtual effects. The only concern about the sequel was the fact that is was coming out 14 years after the first film, so some wondered if Cameron could pull off another hit, including the director himself.
It turns out, he’s done it, but after shooting the movie, the director did have to make a few cuts to the film that he is sharing now. In a new interview with Esquire Middle East, Cameron revealed the film would’ve run 10 minutes longer had he not cut out scenes with gun violence. The filmmaker said he is no longer interested in fetishizing guns in his action scenes given the rampant gun violence in the U.S.
“I actually cut about 10 minutes of the movie targeting gunplay action. I wanted to get rid of some of the ugliness, to find a balance between light and dark. You have to have conflict, of course. Violence and action are the same thing, depending on how you look at it. This is the dilemma of every action filmmaker, and I’m known as an action filmmaker.”
Cameron said earlier in the interview:
“I look back on some films that I’ve made, and I don’t know if I would want to make that film now. I don’t know if I would want to fetishize the gun, like I did on a couple of ‘Terminator’ movies 30-plus years ago, in our current world. What’s happening with guns in our society turns my stomach. I’m happy to be living in New Zealand where they just banned all assault rifles two weeks after that horrific mosque shooting a couple of years ago.”
I respect Cameron for his point of view. It will be interesting to see how movies are made going forward with artists who adopt this stance. I haven’t seen Avatar 2 yet. Have you? What did you think of the fight sequences?