Avatar

Avatar (marketed as James Cameron's Avatar)

Avatar (marketed as James Cameron's Avatar) is a 2009 American directed, written, produced, and co-edited by , and starring , , , , and . The film is set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are colonizing , a lush of a in the star system, in order to mine the mineral , a . The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of – a species indigenous to Pandora. The film's title refers to a Na'vi body with the mind of a remotely located human that is used to interact with the natives of Pandora.

Development of Avatar began in 1994, when Cameron wrote an 80-page treatment for the film. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Cameron's 1997 film , for a planned release in 1999, but according to Cameron, the necessary technology was not yet available to achieve his vision of the film. Work on of the film's began in 2005, and Cameron began developing the screenplay and in early 2006. Avatar was officially budgeted at $237 million. Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production and at $150 million for promotion. The film made extensive use of new filming techniques, and was released for traditional viewing, viewing (using the , , , and formats), and for "" experiences in select South Korean theaters. The filmmaking was touted as a breakthrough in cinematic technology.

Avatar premiered in London on December 10, 2009, and was internationally released on December 16 and in the United States and Canada on December 18, to positive critical reviews, with critics highly praising its groundbreaking visual effects. During its theatrical run, the film broke several box office records and became the , as well as in the , surpassing Titanic, which had held those records for twelve years (and was also directed by Cameron). It also became the first film to gross more than $2 billion and the . Avatar was nominated for nine , including and , and won three, for , and . Following the film's success, Cameron signed with to produce three sequels, making Avatar the first of a planned tetralogy. The three sequels, all directed and co-written by Cameron, will be released each year starting from December 2017 to 2019.