James Cameron reveals that he created 800 pages of notes while developing and building out the world of Pandora before he allowed the writers' room to work with him on Avatar: The Way of Water. Cameron has been crafting the world of Pandora and Avatar for many years, working on the original Avatar about fifteen years ago. He's now developed a story that can be told over at least three more movies, if not more. In this franchise, his attention to detail and world-building have resulted in a truly unique world and cultures to explore.
During an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Cameron shared the extensive notes he took while building out the world of Pandora before tackling the second script. He revealed that he wrote 800 pages of notes and gave them to the writers to read before they attempted to tackle Avatar: The Way of Water. Cameron also breaks down his need to understand what made Avatar succeed and how it was important for them to find that feeling again with Avatar: The Way of Water.
James Cameron: But starting from development, I thought that this time I want to work with a team of writers. We are doing multiple scripts. I’d already decided I wanted to do a trilogy, turned out now I guess it’s a quadrilogy, if that’s the right word. But I had to have a starting point.
I set down and just made a bunch of notes for six months. Literally, just every day sitting at my desk, talking about the world, the characters, trying to fill in what happened the day after Jake woke up in a Navi body, and just was carrying the story forward. I knew I had certain goals in mind.
I walked in on the first day with the whole writers room, and I plopped down 800 pages of notes, single spaced. I said, “Do your homework, and then we’ll talk.” And then we got together, and the first thing I challenged them with was, "Before we start talking about new stories, let’s figure out how the first story worked. What were people keying into, what was working for them?" We had a lot of discussions about that, and every idea we came up with as we went along had to measure up against that standard.
It had to hit the heart, had to hit the mind, had to hit the imagination, and it had to hit something even deeper, which we had a hard time quantifying. Something you could call spiritual, or you could call subconscious. Some kind of connection that you can’t even really describe in words. And I said, "If we can’t do that again, then we are going to fail."
James Cameron Fully Develops The World Of Pandora In Avatar: The Way of Water
Cameron's dedication to fully realizing the world of Pandora and these characters before even approaching the Avatar: The Way of Water script speaks to a deep understanding of what makes these types of science fiction and fantasy projects work. The audience needs to connect to these characters on a deeper level, as well as to the beauty and purity of the world of Pandora and the diverse cultures that inhabit it. Avatar: The Way Of Water picks up years after the original, with an important part of Neytiri and Jake's lives, as they start a family, not fully explored. By knowing every step of this journey, Cameron is able to infuse every beat of their new story with that history.
Avatar captures audiences' attention in a truly astonishing way, and is therefore the most successful movie of all time. Cameron's desire to find that magic once again goes beyond the story, the technology, and even the characters, but the unquantifiable heart that audiences connected with shows a deep understanding of how he found this lightning in a bottle. Even before the sequel's script, 800 pages of notes is an amazing feat, but his need for the other writers he worked with to understand the world just as deeply before writing not only Avatar: The Way of Water but also Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 shows the true gravity of these notes.
Cameron's system for development, writing, and production proves his well-mapped strategy. The Sully family will be at the center of these new stories, exploring new parts of their home world and discovering new cultures. Cameron's deep understanding of the world he created, the characters he will explore, and the intangible spirit of Avatar and Pandora shows his dedication to telling a good story that will resonate with audiences and be successful. He also understands, perhaps better than most people leading franchises, that to truly build a strong story, characters, and world in Avatar: The Way of Water and beyond, the foundation needs to be laid for everyone involved.