James Cameron Says ‘Avatar’ Wanted to Avoid “‘Stranger Things’ Effect”
James Cameron is an undisputed visionary of film, and the latest installment of the Avatar franchise is testament to that.
But the genius filmmaker is also aware that child actors' physical appearances change over time,
And it was with this awareness that he took the rare decision to shoot a large portion of his upcoming fourth Avatar movie before even completing the third.
When Cameron recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly, he explained his motivation for deciding to shoot the bulk of Avatar 4 while wrapping up the third installation, which is slated to open in 2024.
At the time, his main reasons centered on the changing physical appearance of the younger actors in the Avatar productions, with their rapid growth spurts proving to be a challenge.
One example cited by the filmmaker is Jack Champion, who plays the role of Spider in the films and was 13 when The Way of Water began shooting.
Champion is now 18, which has made his physical transformation an unavoidable issue.