Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron was raised in Niagara Falls. Well known for such blockbuster films as Avatar, Titanic and The Terminator, he chose his hometown for the exclusive preview of his much-awaited sequel Avatar: The Way of Water.
Avatar connects us to a dream world so what better place for filmmaker James Cameron to have brought back to life the next stage of this fantasy story than over the backdrop of one of the world’s greatest natural wonders.
As his home-town Niagara Falls’ thundering waters illuminated in a Pandora blue, Avatar: The Way of Water came to a place where his dreams began and where the journey continues.
The carefully guarded release of the long-awaited sequel lacked the usual advance screening for critics and typical Hollywood promotion. Instead, the 68-year-old chose a place close to his heart to launch an exclusive glimpse of Avatar: Way of Water.
On November 3, 2022, more than 600 drones took flight over Niagara creating a symphony of lights visible from three miles away, climaxing with the dramatic screening of the never-before-seen preview over the natural canvas of the majestic Falls.
It was a moment of great pride and excitement for Cameron to release this video in the community that inspired his dreams.
Raised in Chippawa, Ontario, Cameron says this is where his views of the world were shaped, developing discipline from his engineer father and an artistic side from his mother. Along with friends, he remembers building a miniature diving vessel to send to the bottom of the Niagara River.
At the same time, the young Cameron fed his passion for science fiction, reading every day on the bus to Stamford Collegiate in nearby Niagara Falls.
It was a teacher from that school who approached him with inspirational words that proved prophetic.
When you’re 14 and somebody tells you, you have unlimited potential, that’s a really cool thing to hear, he remembers.
Cameron went on to unleash that limitless potential resulting in a string of epic films including his academy-award winning Titanic and Avatar – the highest grossing film of all time. His films have grossed $6 billion world-wide. In 2010, Time named Cameron one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Avatar, Cameron explains, embraces a spiritual component that one can’t quite quantify in words, perhaps not unlike the mystique of the iconic Falls.
Avatar: Way of Water opens in theatres Dec. 16.
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