Avatar to re-release: Did you know that James Cameron's film was originally intended to be R-rated?

Avatar, James Cameron's Academy Award-winning epic adventure from 2009, returns to theatres on September 23, 2022. The movie will be available in 4K High Dynamic Range format. To commemorate the re-release, the team has come up with a new trailer and poster.

Avatar: The Way of Water, the long-awaited sequel, will be released on December 16, 2022. The Way of Water will be followed by Avatar 3, which was shot concurrently with the new film. Avatar 4 and 5 will also begin production soon, but Cameron has expressed reservations about returning to the director's chair. In the meantime, the director will focus on other projects. Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, Zoe Saldana plays Neytiri, Stephen Lang plays Colonel Miles Quaritch, Sigourney Weaver plays Dr Grace Augustine, and Kate Winslet plays Ronal in the upcoming sequel.

James Cameron, in an interview, stated, "I think eventually over time, I’ll want to pass the baton to a director that I trust to take over, so I can go do some other stuff that I’m also interested in. Or maybe not. I don’t know."

The filmmaker said the movie franchise gave him the canvas to talk about subjects which are important to him in real life—family, sustainability and climate. “Everything I need to say about family, about sustainability, about climate, about the natural world, the themes that are important to me in real life and my cinematic life, I can say on this canvas."

Never underestimate James Cameron. Whenever someone attempts to write him off, the prolific writer/director outperforms everyone else and produces a phenomenally successful hit. People who predicted that Titanic would be a huge flop, for example, were astounded by the film's incredible success. Similarly, those who expected Cameron to fail with Avatar, his ambitious special effects-heavy sci-fi action-thriller, were surprised to see this passion project become Cameron's chance to outshine himself and reclaim the top spot on the all-time charts. Avatar is without a doubt one of Cameron's crown jewels. Indeed, the road to success was paved with hard battles and difficulties, but Cameron triumphed.

Let's look at some fascinating behind-the-scenes information about 2009's Avatar.

• It took a long time for James Cameron to realise his vision for Avatar. The filmmaker reportedly first conceived of the images seen throughout his film in the 1970s, when he wrote his first screenplay, and the ideas found throughout the record-breaking blockbuster evolved over the next several decades. Cameron began writing Avatar in 1994, according to ABC News, and he continued to rework and retool the script in the years that followed, wanting to wait until technology allowed the story to be made as he envisioned it.

• While Cameron attempted to launch it at various points, his previous attempts were unsuccessful; the filmmaker was unwilling to compromise on his vision. However, as technology advanced and new-age technology enabled greater possibilities to be realised, the possibilities became real.

• The initial image for the Na'vi came from his mother's dream, where she envisioned a twelve-foot-tall blue woman, which was "kind of a cool image" that stayed with the filmmaker, as James Cameron revealed during the film's release. Furthermore, Cameron's inspiration for The Terminator came to him in a nightmare while he was sick in Rome.

• Aside from the memorable imagery, fantastical creature designs, and striking environments are seen throughout Avatar, one of the most natural ways of conveying the magic and awe of this newfound planet is through the score, which can ease us into the journey and allow us to be swept up in its grandeur and majesty. Avatar's composer, the late James Horner, went to extreme lengths to create a dazzling original score to craft the emotions and sounds that our lead characters feel and hear.

• At its heart, Avatar is a story about environmentalism and the importance of safeguarding our planet against the corrupting forces of greed and capitalism. Whether or not you agree with the movie's message, there's no denying that it was something James Cameron was passionate about while creating this cinematic achievement.

• Avatar is estimated to have cost $237 million, not including promotional materials. That's a lot of money for just one film, especially by 2009 standards, but Fox executive James Gianopulos admits it was "money well-spent" given Avatar's success.

• Robert Rodriguez, the director of Alita: Battle Angel, has revealed that Avatar, released in 2009, was originally intended to be an R-rated film that was later cut down to appeal to a PG-13 audience.

• A staggering amount of computer-generated imagery was used in Avatar. It's been reported that CG is used in 60% of Avatar, but it's unclear whether this includes all of the CG environments, characters, technology, weaponry, and anything else computer-animated that appears on-screen. Avatar uses so much computer graphics technology that even Cameron later admitted that they're animated movies, especially when you consider all the random uses of CG seen throughout — even if you didn't notice.

• Cameron reportedly made more than $350 million from Avatar, thanks to a directorial deal that was structured as "first dollar" gross or "at cash break" gross. That's a good chunk of the pie!