Jon Landau, producer of ‘Avatar: The Sense of Water’: “With each sequel we want to raise the bar”

Although James Cameron was already well known in the mid-80s for things like “Terminator” or “Aliens: The Return”, he wrote his initials in gold letters in Hollywood history by making two of the highest-grossing films in history . However, behind ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’ there was a great team whose names perhaps don’t stand out so much, including a very important one: producer Jon Landau. The fact that he produced these two blockbusters that netted a total of 14 Oscars and an unusual amount of dollars put him in charge of the Pandora-based saga, with up to four sequels already in development. Last September, the producer presented exclusive footage of “Avatar: The Sense of Water” in Madrid and it is clear that 3D and technical perfection in terms of aesthetics and motion capture are one of the maxims of this first sequel. We had the opportunity to speak with Landau at eCartelera, where he took the opportunity to provide insights into the future of the franchise and explain in more detail how to work within this charismatic universe.

We recently learned that ‘Avatar 3’ was being filmed at the same time as ‘Water Sense’. Making two films of this caliber is a long and complex process (especially considering that one is a sequel to the other), but it’s not without its perks, according to Landau: “In fact, we shot the second, third and first acts of the fourth. One of the advantages is that if we have to record something on a set, we can record everything from that set in one go. Also, having the scripts already written, the actors know where their characters are going, so it felt very natural to do it that way.”. This long-term plan is endorsed by a total of 5 films, a sort of totemic saga which was compared to the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy by Cameron himself when he presented his road map from now to the next few years. And, for ‘The sense of water’, things are already progressing. First, the family gets bigger.

In the first ‘Avatar’, Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) have a cross-species love story, with environmental messages involved, somewhat rephrasing the ‘Pocahontas’ story. On this occasion, the plot will revolve around the diverse family formed by both and their many children. It will be three biological Na’vi (Neteyam, Lo’ak, Tuktirey), an adopted teenage Na’vi played by Sigourney Weaver (Kiri) and a human adopted son (“Spider”). As to whether romantic or familial love is easier to approach, Landau is clear: “I believe family love can only come after romantic love. This is the structure of the “Avatar” films.. It started with a romantic story, but Jake and Neytiri have not lost their love. He grew up, developed, they have children whom they raised and adopted. There’s a scene in the movie that we call “Date Night” where Jake and Neytiri go off on their own and fly like in the first movie. The love between them is still there.”.

Replicating the “Top Gun: Maverick” phenomenon?

If we skip the bullfighter that comparisons are hateful, that’s the truth there are many similarities between ‘Avatar: The Sense of Water’ and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ for being a late sequel that stands as the standard defender of the room experience. Although less time has passed in the case of ‘Avatar’, it is clear that these 13 years have almost represented another different generation of moviegoers, yet it retains an overriding nostalgia as its star attraction. “I don’t see ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ as a phenomenon”Jon Landau stated, “I think it’s a very natural thing. They went and said, ‘We’re doing an independent film. You mustn’t have seen the first one, no matter how many years ago it came out. Here’s a cinematic experience for ‘We want to do the same thing with “Avatars”. It’s not about whether you saw the first movie or how long ago it was. It’s about creating something that audiences should see on the big screen and getting something emotionally and thematically.”.

There are differences from Tom Cruise’s film. It doesn’t matter how successful he was in 80’s Top Gun. Idols of the air’, has nothing to do with the immeasurable box office that ‘Avatar’ has garnered. This adds pressure and expectations for its subsequent continuations on which the producer wanted to pronounce: “The way we look at every film we make is that we have to raise the bar. We put ourselves under pressure, regardless of the box office. We want to challenge ourselves to do things we’ve never done before, to tell stories in ways we’ve never done before, and do it through compelling, inspiring, and ambitious characters. for us it’s not about the box office, it’s about creative artistry and creating an unprecedented cinematic experience”.

Pandora’s world building

Having the scripts for up to four sequels already written is a very conscientious way of working with very clear intentions. “Jim (Cameron) had the basic idea of ​​the story he wanted to tell”explains Landau. “At first we thought we could count them in three films, not four. But one of the things about this film is more characters, and to do them justice in each film we needed more time.”. The producer also described Cameron’s curious method: “One of the best things about working with Jim (Cameron) is that he never dwells on what he did yesterday.. As soon as we started working with the cast, he put on his writer’s hat and started playing with them. Something new came from there. When he works with the design team and creates a new creature that wasn’t in the script, Jim says, “We’ll find a way to fit it.” It’s an evolutionary process, but the ultimate goal never changes.”.

The construction of the imaginary world (or Worldbuilding as it is called by fantasy and science fiction fans) is fundamental when it comes to creating a universe like Pandora and making it instantly recognizable, as happens with other sagas such as ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Mad Max’ . Regarding this process, Landau commented on what his secret was: “What we did was find an amazing team of artists who could take inspiration from our world and apply it on a different scale. But they based it on scientific facts that we created for Pandora.. I loved it when one of the designers created a creature and did something we didn’t ask him to. An illustration of those five creatures on a tree forming the shape of a flower. When I asked him why he did it, he said ‘Because they had to disguise themselves, to protect themselves.’ And that wasn’t in the movie, but the artist took time to think about it, and that’s the process of everything behind Pandora. Whether it’s something fantastic like the floating mountains or something exotic like the footage you saw today.”.

‘Avatar: The Sense of Water’ will hit theaters later December 16th.