Pandora's box-office gold as Avatar tops charts

Cameron, who is currently in New Zealand engaged in post-production work for the Avatar sequels, tells China Daily, via an online video interview, that he feels "truly incredible about what has happened in China".

"You guys are leading the charge. That's fantastic. I love it that you've got the virus under control enough and you've got the economy reemerging as well as cinema reemerging," says Cameron.

China took decisive action shortly after the COVID-19 outbreak earlier last year, enforcing a six-month-long closure of more than 75,000 screens in around 12,000 cinemas until it became safe for moviegoers to once again return.

Propelled by a bunch of Chinese blockbusters, ranging from the patriotic anthology My People, My Homeland to the recent Spring Festival smash hit Hi, Mom, the country's cinema business has seen an inspiring revival following the impact of the pandemic, becoming the world's largest movie market in terms of yearly box-office gross in October last year.

"The Chinese film industry is growing in strength and the ability to tell these Chinese stories is at a world-class level," says Cameron.

"I'm honored that they (the China Film Administration and Chinese distributors) chose Avatar to be one of the films to sort of remind people what the cinematic experience is," he adds.

Speaking about the legacy that Avatar has given to global audiences over the past decade, Cameron says he believes Avatar is still a "fresh "tale with a thought-provoking theme that explores climate change and mankind's relationship with nature.

Set in the year 2154, the film follows a paraplegic US military veteran's mission to the fictional, inhabitable moon of Pandora, a lush alien world, home to blue-skinned, 3-meter-tall giants known as the Na'vi. Despite being part of a project in which humans seek to exploit the moon's valuable resources, the protagonist is moved by the Na'vi's respect for nature, and chooses to fight alongside them against the human invaders.

"As a filmmaker, you want to be able to resonate with people everywhere. I know some people criticize the story for being too simple. I think it was universal. It was something that everybody everywhere could understand and emotionally relate to."

Perhaps the most anticipated news for Avatar fans is that of a release date for the film's upcoming sequels. Disney's latest update on the matter states that Avatar 2, which reprises the roles of Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver, will be released globally on Dec 16, 2022.

Cameron reveals that the Avatar producers have two facilities respectively located in Los Angeles and New Zealand.

Despite a lot of film projects struggling with delays and postponements-or being forced to operate remotely-Cameron says he feels "lucky" to be in New Zealand right now and still able to work in the same room with other people.

"In a funny way, nothing really changed for me. We were very fortunate that we had based our production here in New Zealand before the pandemic," says Cameron.