James Cameron's 'Avatar' gears up for re-release in theatres

Joined by his leading cast, Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang, the director sat down for a global panel discussion where they got candid about the film and how it is 'looking better' than ever before.

"If you're under 22 or 23 years of age, it's very, very unlikely that you've seen the film in a movie theatre, which, in a way, kind of means you haven't seen the film the way we intended it to be seen," Cameron said while revealing that the movie was made to be watched on the big screen, in the 3D format.

Sam Worthington, who plays one of the lead roles in the film, revealed how the film's story is a timeless one. Using his character Jake Sully as his reference, he explained, "This is a story about a young guy that went to another planet, and he was looking for something — looking to belong — and he found in another culture that didn't he really know anything about. Personally, I think that sense of belonging permeates with all of us. We're all kind of looking for our own little plan, our own clique, our group of people that can comfort us and give us confidence and then we can learn from, and I think there's something in that's very interesting."

'Avatar, which was originally released in 2009, earned 3 Oscar wins and 9 nominations. The movie went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time. It was however beaten by 'Avengers: Endgame' that took the crown for a few weeks until Cameron re-released 'Avatar' in China, which propelled it to the top once again with a total of $2.798 billion.

The next instalment of the franchise - 'Avatar: The Way of Water', which has been delayed several times, is now scheduled for release in December 2022.