James Cameron knew he couldn’t afford to leave guns in the final cut of Avatar: Way of the Water. Because of increasing gun violence, Cameron decided to cut out gun sequences in Avatar: Way of the Water. According to Variety, the director felt he could not justify portraying violence with guns because of the pervasive and deadly gun shootings in the United States and didn’t want to add to the onscreen glorification of guns.
Avatar: Way of the Water would have had an even longer run time had the director left the sequences. Right now, the run time for Avatar: Way of the Water, which is currently playing in theaters nationwide, clocks in at 3 hours and 12 minutes, so it’s likely that most audience members will not feel shortchanged.
“I actually cut about 10 minutes of the movie targeting gunplay action. I wanted to get rid of some of the ugliness, to find a balance between light and dark. You have to have conflict, of course. Violence and action are the same thing, depending on how you look at it. This is the dilemma of every action filmmaker, and I’m known as an action filmmaker.”
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Avatar: Way of the Water is already projected to have pulled in over 900 million in theaters globally and is billed as the most expensive film ever made.
Gun Violence Will Cause Reboots to Reevaluate
20th Century Fox
Given Cameron’s comments, combined with the problems of gun violence nationwide, directors will undoubtedly be faced with decision-making when it comes to what or what not to include in action sequences.
According to the action-film director, some of Cameron’s other projects, which include the famous Terminator films made over 30 years ago, would have to be approached differently.
Other films known for their action sequences currently being remade include another Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Commando. Given that the original movie poster for Commando features Schwarzenegger’s character holding a semi-automatic weapon, it will be interesting to see how directors in charge of some of these action remakes translate action sequences to fit contemporary cultural needs.
Many successful action movies in past years have not featured guns or characters shooting with guns at each other. These films include Mission: Impossible, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, and Alien.
