We just learned a rather fascinating bit of trivia for Avatar: The Way of Water that you might or might not enjoy. Apparently, this epic sci-fi film was supposed to have a lot more gunplay in it. James Cameron himself stepped in to put a stop to it though. Apparently, he didn’t like that. Not one bit.

Avatar: The Way of Water ~ Minus 10 Minutes of Gunplay?

"Avatar" screenshot showing Jake Sully in his Na'vi body aiming a machine gun.
I guess this is one scene we will be seeing very little of for the foreseeable future.

During an interview with Esquire Middle East, director James Cameron himself revealed that he made some very interesting editing choices for Avatar: The Way of Water. According to Cameron: he actually cut about 10 minutes of the film entirely. These 10 minutes all comprise various gunplay scenes, and presumably any scenes that emphasized gunplay and gun action. Cameron actually gives a detailed description of what he did, which you can read below:

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.

James Cameron: The Less Guns, the Better?

One might ask: “Was it ever?”

So why did James Cameron feel the need to cut out all this gunplay from Avatar: The Way of Water? Well, according to him again: apparently, he’s had a change of heart about guns over the decades. Despite directing such films as The Terminator and Aliens (both of which feature numerous, extensive gunplay scenes), Cameron’s views on guns in general have soured since. Especially given all the mass shootings in the world (well, mostly in the US) going on. Cameron makes his views about guns pretty clear below:

I look back on some films that I’ve made, and I don’t know if I would want to make that film now. I don’t know if I would want to fetishize the gun, like I did on a couple of Terminator movies 30+ years ago, in our current world. What’s happening with guns in our society turns my stomach.

Source: Esquire Middle East

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