Avatar 2: how long does it last (and why)

James Cameron he is one who cares the rules of show business. Hollywood producer King Midas is familiar with them, of course, but she loves to subvert them. And, so far, he has always been right, especially on one precise aspect, namely the duration (of his films).

Let’s take the first Avatars: regardless of two hours and 41 minutes, remains the most watched in the history of cinema. And with the second Avatars: The water way – arriving on December 14 – is surpassed in every sense with three hours and ten, a real endurance race. More or less like Titanic that lasted three hours and fourteen minutes (which still ranks third at the box office).

With the action it was more or less contained: between the first and the second terminators he gnawed half an hour. And so the second chapter lasts two hours and seventeen (same timing as Alien: Final Clash) against the hour and forty-seven of the first.

Nothing to do: Cameron is used to having his own way and takes it easy. It took thirteen years to complete Avatars 2 (and then, poor thing, he got Covid and skipped the premiere, but that’s another story). But now it accelerates and, at a rate of one release every two years, has already optioned the next three sequels (The Seed Bearer, The Knight of Tulkun And Looking for Eywa).

In an interview with Empire he said that those who watch TV series binge-watch for a longer duration so evidently the length is not a deterrent for anyone. Except, perhaps, for movie theaters and it’s simple math: the longer a film lasts, the fewer shows can be screened in the space of a day.

Many, including his staff, tried to make him change his mind, but he stuck even more firmly. Like when they told him that a film about a tragedy whose ending is known (Titanic) would not take anyone to the cinema. Well, today those guys are probably unemployed and full of remorse, while he continues to grind grandiose and tremendously risky businesses.

In short, size doesn’t matter. Not for himat least, this stubborn 68-year-old Canadian, who has signed blockbusters since the 1980s, collecting Academy Awards and any other recognition that may have been forged on this earth.

TO variety he recently added that he believes in “more is more,” which means that in Avatar: The Water Road he ramped up the doses of everything (more emotions, more relationships, more happenings, just more). «A Disney family story? – he specifies – No, it’s like The Sopranos».

Paraphrasing his words and, net of the English-speaking politically correct, more or less means: «Enough whining! Sit on those fucking armchairs and enjoy it. The harder it is, the better». Will she be right?

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