The director took notice of the Matrix sequels so as not to replicate his mistakes in Avatar: The Sense of Water.
In the film industry, as in almost all, the work of others always tends to serve as inspiration for one’s own; It doesn’t matter if your name is Pepito Pérez or James Cameron. The director of movies like Titanic Avatar also looks at his professional colleagues to know what he should or should not do.
Interestingly, The Matrix, which James Cameron believes is somewhat inspired by the Terminator concept, served as a guide for him on how NOT to shape the sequels to the 2009 film.
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The director has been chatting with Collider (via Koimoi) about the Avatar franchise, which released its second installment in 2022 and catapulted to third position in the ranking of highest-grossing films in history.
James Cameron has highlighted the “independent” format that Avatar: The Sense of Water has with respect to the movie original, and how the third film will have it, in the same way.
A lesson James Cameron learned from The Matrix
The director gives the example of the Matrix saga, created by the wachoswki sisterswhen it comes to not following the continuity concept of its two sequels.
Specifically, Cameron alludes to the succession between Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions, since the former ends in a deadlock that is not resolved until the end of the trilogy. For him, this approach is a mistake.
“I’m writing them as separate stories that have an overall arc that includes the first movie. I don’t want to suffer from the Matrix 2 problem, where it just ends, like, what the hell? It has to end. There has to be a sense of conclusion, but also a feeling that the journey will continue, and that’s a fine line.”
Although James Cameron alludes to the Matrix as an example, similar cases occur in a multitude of sagas, such as Star Wars or Dune, which, being in two parts, leaves the end of the first film in a suspense of two years.
The director of Avatar and Titanic prefers to close the adventure and leave a few loose ends that he can use in subsequent installments.
Do you agree with James Cameron? Should a movie in a saga conclude without leaving its ending on hold, waiting to continue in the next installment?
