AVATAR (2009) MOVIE

Avatar is a 2009 American science fiction epic film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang. The film is set in the year 2154, when humans are engaged in mining reserves of a precious mineral called unobtanium on the lush moon Pandora of the Alpha Centauri star system.[5] The colonists' expansion threatens the continued existence of the Na'vi, a race of humanoids indigenous to Pandora, as well as the moon's ecosystem. The film's title refers to the genetically engineered Na'vi bodies used by several human characters to interact with the natives of Pandora.[6]

Development on Avatar began in 1994, when Cameron wrote an 80-page scriptment for the film.[7] Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Cameron's previous film Titanic, for a planned release in 1999, but according to Cameron, the technology was not yet available to portray his vision of the film.[8][9] Work on the language for the film's extraterrestrial race began in summer 2005, and Cameron began developing the script and fictional universe in early 2006.[10][11]

The film was released in traditional 2-D, as well as in 3-D, using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D, and IMAX 3D formats. Avatar is officially budgeted at $237 million;[2] other estimates put the cost at $280–310 million to produce and $150 million for marketing.[12][13][14] The film is being touted as a breakthrough in terms of filmmaking technology, for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras that were specially designed for the film's production.[15]

Avatar premiered in London on December 10, 2009, and was released internationally on December 16, 2009, and in North America on December 18, 2009, to critical acclaim and commercial success.[16][17][18] The film broke several box office records during its release and became the highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing Titanic (It is the twenty-sixth highest-grossing film in North America once adjusted for inflation.)[19].[20][21] Due to the film's success, Cameron confirmed that there will be a sequel.[22]