James Cameron revealed that his wife had a strong emotional response after watching Avatar: Fire and Ash for the first time. In an interview with Empire, the director said she watched an early cut of the film without having seen any prior footage and was deeply affected.
“My wife watched the whole thing from end to end. She had kept herself away from it, and I wasn’t showing her bits and pieces as we went along,” Cameron said. “She cried for four hours. She kept trying to compose herself so she could tell me specific reactions, and then she’d tear up and start crying again.”
He eventually had to pause the conversation. “Finally, I’m like, ‘Honey, I’ve got to go to bed. Sorry, we’ll talk about it some other time,’” he recalled.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is the third installment in Cameron’s Avatar series. While specific details remain under wraps, the director has confirmed that the film will be longer than The Way of Water, which had a runtime of three hours and 12 minutes.
“You’ll see a lot more Pandora that you never saw before,” Cameron said during a D23 presentation where he announced the film’s title. “It’s an adventure with a rich visual experience, but it also has strong emotional stakes. We’re exploring difficult challenges for all the characters.”
Returning cast members include Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Britain Dalton, Jack Champion, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Bailey Bass, Joel David Moore, Edie Falco, and Dileep Rao. Oona Chaplin joins the franchise as Varang, leader of the Ash Clan.
Cameron has been overseeing post-production in New Zealand, and early reactions suggest that Fire and Ash may be the most emotionally engaging entry in the series so far.
