Avatar : Fire and Ash

      Everything You Need to Know Before Watching Avatar: Fire and Ash

                                                                                                            By: Josh Brawley

Welcome to the Avatar: Fire and Ash Preamble, where we discuss the info YOU need to know before watching the latest installment in the franchise. 

Avatar 1, the original film that started the legacy, began in 2009, and was written and directed by James Cameron. Interestingly, the film was directed by the same man who did Titanic (1997). First things first, the first film is still, after 17 years, the highest grossing movie of all time, with a stunning $2.9 billion run in its 8-month theatrical run. This run is monumental, as most films leave the cinema after one to two months of release. Not only does this show how much people wanted to see the film, it also provides leeway on how it made so much. 

Fire and Ash is the third installment in Cameron’s widely-beloved franchise. In the previous film, The Way of Water, Sully and his family finally live a peaceful life after the defeat of the humans. However, everything is not what it seems, as the human military, known in-universe as the RDA, launches another strike against the world of Pandora. In the confrontation, the RDA finds Sully and his family, and takes his adopted son Spider (Jack Champion) hostage, leading to the events in the film. 

Don’t misunderstand it. When it comes to Cameron, he holds an infamous track record for making incredibly long films that can sometimes last over three hours. As previously stated, the highly-praised director is responsible for Titanic, a heart-breaking tale about a survivor from the titanic disaster. While I won’t dive too much into the movie, its runtime is a gigantic 3h 15m. Avatar 2, which was released in 2023, is just about as long, reaching 3h 12m. 

A question you might have lingering in the back of your head is “why were the first two released 13 years apart from each other?” Well, if you couldn’t tell already, Cameron is a visionary. As the title suggests, the sequel relies heavily on very complex water simulation for lots of impressive shots, and an unbelievable climax sequence. Through what’s available today, the writer-director was able to bring his vision to life. However, 13 years ago, the technology didn’t meet his standards, so he was willing to wait 13 whole years to start directing his 2022 film.

An interesting fact you might not know is that Cameron, with help from Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, and Shane Salerno, wrote the scripts for Avatar's two through five all at once to create a grand, overarching narrative for the series. Avatar 4, which currently doesn’t have a title, is slated for release in 2029.

Another factor that can’t be overlooked is the box office performances of the films. We’ve already established that the first film is a box office behemoth, the second film also performed very well, earning over $2.3 billion worldwide in its estimated 34 week theatrical run.

Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third and latest film in the saga, is in theaters now.