DAK’s “World of AVATAR” is just one component of James Cameron & Fox Filmed Entertainment’s plan to turn this film into a full-fledged franchise

Jim Hill

11 years ago

Next month (September 20th, to be exact) will mark the two
year anniversary of the announcement that " … Walt
Disney Parks
and Resorts Worldwide is joining forces with visionary filmmaker James Cameron
and Fox Filmed Entertainment to bring the world of AVATAR
to life at Disney
parks."

And just in case you're wondering: September
21, 2013 marks the 2nd anniversary of the very first comment by an
irate Disney fan. Who was demanding to know why Walt Disney Imagineering had
yet to reveal all of the rides, shows and attractions that it then had in the
works for that "James Cameron's World of AVATAR" land which WDI was
planning on building at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park.

Okay. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration (If I'm remembering
correctly, the first complaint about this project might have actually been posted
online on September 22, 2011 … I kid. I kid). But you get the idea, right?
That for almost two years now, the Disneyana fan community has continually
carped about the lack of good solid info that can be found on the Web about
"James Cameron's World of AVATAR."

Which is kind of understandable. Given that the only
official image to be released — to date, anyway — is a picture of Joe Rohde,
James Cameron, Bruce Vaughn and Tom Staggs looking over a green foam model of a
version of this DAK expansion area that has long since been abandoned.

But did you guys ever stop and consider why exactly it is
that there has been so little information released to date about "World of
AVATAR" ? To be blunt, it's because Cameron — rather than The Walt Disney
Company — is the one who's been controlling the pace of development on this
project. And since James wants this new DAK "land" to open at a time
when it would be the most helpful for he and Fox Filmed Entertainment's plan to
turn AVATAR into a full-fledged franchise … Well, that's why we're still in
the middle on an information drought when it comes to this particular Animal Kingdom
expansion.

You have to remember that it was Tom Staggs and Bob Iger who
approached James & Fox Filmed Entertainment when it came to acquiring the global theme park rights for AVATAR. So
it's Cameron & his producing partner Jon Landau and their team at
Lightstorm Entertainment who — thanks to their creative consultant deals —
who actually have the upper hand here in this situation. Not Disney.

And to James & Jon's way of thinking, DAK's "World
of AVATAR" isn't an end unto itself. But — rather — this new theme park
"land" is just one component of their plan to turn the original
AVATAR movie to a full-fledged franchise.

James Cameron speaks at the September 2011
announcement of the AVATAR deal.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Now please keep in mind that there's this entire arm at
Lightstorm Entertainment whose sole purpose is franchise development. And over
the past four years, Cameron and his crew there have drawn up a battle plan that takes its inspiration from the way George Lucas and Paramount
grew Star Wars & Star Trek into full-fledged franchises in the 1980s. Which
involves a series of books that will keep the AVATAR characters and the world
of Pandora front-of-mind among sci-fi fans as well as three new AVATAR movies.

And while James & Jon recognize that a hyper-detailed
theme park version of Pandora (which will supposedly be this completely
immersive environment on the same scale as DCA's Cars
Land and IOA's The Wizarding World
of Harry Potter) will help keep AVATAR enthusiasts energized, Cameron &
Landau didn't want the tail to wag the dog here. Which is why they decided that
it would be smarter in the long run (especially when you consider the future earnings
potential of this franchise as a whole) that the three AVATAR sequels be
properly set up / supported by a new series of sci-fi novels first rather than just charge ahead with development & construction of "James Cameron's
World of AVATAR" for DAK. That's why — in spite of Disney's original
announcement that " … Construction is expected to begin by 2013" —
they have yet to officially break ground on this project.

It's a really brilliant plan. If it actually works. The big
question now is will any of the AVATAR sequels be as popular as the first film?
Which earned nearly $3 billion worldwide during its theatrical release and then
went on to become the best selling Blu-ray of all time.

"And why would the potential success of the AVATAR sequels be in doubt?," you ask. Well, there are those in the entertainment industry who have whispered that the main reason the original AVATAR did as well as it did at the box office
back in 2009 was because it was the first Hollywood film to skillfully mix CG &
3D. Which — given the dozens of major motion pictures which are released annually in the
3D format these days — clearly won't be the case when the first AVATAR sequel rolls into
theaters in December of 2016.

In spite of that whispering, this issue doesn't seem to concern Cameron in the least. Earlier
this month, Fox Filmed Entertainment chief Jim Gianopulos revealed to
investment analysts that James has finished outlining the next three
installments of his AVATAR film series. What's more, Cameron has selected the
screenwriters that he'll be collaborating with in order to turn these outlines
into full-fledged screenplays. And these folks are:

Josh Friedman, who worked with David Koepp on Steven Spielberg's 2005 remake of
"War of the Worlds
"

Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, who wrote the script for 2011's "Rise of
the Planet of the Apes
"

Shane Salerno, the talent behind "Salinger," the Weinstein Company's
highly anticipated, soon-to-be-released documentary.

And then — borrowing a page from the way that Peter Jackson
handled "Lord of the Rings
" and "The Hobbit" — all three of these AVATAR sequels will shot
simultaneously starting in 2014 and then be released to theaters in December of
2016, December of 2017 and December of 2018.

And as for those sci-fi novels that will be crucial for
growing / maintaining this franchise in between the releases of those AVATAR sequels, earlier this month, Fox & Cameron
announced that they had signed "Jumper
" author Steven Charles Gould
to write four AVATAR novels. One of which will be based on & expand upon
the storyline of that 2009 20th Century
Fox release while the other three books will be based on the three upcoming
AVATAR sequels.

So just to review here: In the past month, we've had
Cameron & Fox reveal their plans for the three AVATAR film sequels. We've
also had Steven Charles Gould signed to write four AVATAR-inspired books to
help support & expand this film franchise. And we also had that faux
Imagineer's cubicle set up at the "Journey into Imagineering"
pavilion at the D23 EXPO which hinted at what's soon-to-begin construction at
Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park.

"How soon?," you query. Obviously nothing can
officially get underway until the cast & crew of "Festival of the Lion
King" exit their old theater in Camp Minnie Mickey and then move into
their new digs in DAK's Africa section. Once that move
is complete, contractors can then flatten the old "FOTLK" theater and
officially begin site prep for "James Cameron's World of AVATAR." But
that said, earlier this week, I was told that two construction trailers have recently
been set up out behind the barns that house the animals which wander the
savannahs at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. And that these trailers will soon
serve as construction headquarters for Phase One of the "World of
AVATAR" project.

"And just when exactly will Disney reveal more about
what's going on with this DAK expansion project?," you press. Well, keep
in mind that it's Cameron & Co. — not Disney — who's calling the
shots here. And while Walt Disney Parks & Resorts would dearly love to use
an AVATAR-related event as a way to eclipse some of Universal Orlando's Harry
Potter publicity (One scenario that I've heard floated would have Disney
staging a star-studded ground-breaking ceremony for "James Cameron's World
of AVATAR" at DAK in late May / early June right in the middle of
Universal's several-days-long media event for the grand opening of The Wizarding World of Harry
Potter: Diagon Alley), it's James who'll ultimately be determining when these
announcements will be made, not the Mouse.

And given that Cameron runs by his own internal creative
clock (i.e., James wrote the original treatment for AVATAR back in 1994 and had
originally hoped to have had this effects-filled film shot & released by
1999. But Cameron eventually opted to put off production 'til 2008 so that the
visual effects industry could then catch up to his vision for Pandora. So long story short: This is a guy who works at his own pace. Who doesn't like to be rushed) … Well,
I guess what I'm saying is that it could be a while yet before we see anything
more than some black outlines of proposed plant life.

Photo by Jim Hill

Though — that said — I have also heard from a couple of sources
at Imagineering that a piece or two of "World of AVATAR" concept art
could be released later this Fall. But — again — that all depends on whether
James Cameron finally decides that it's officially time to let the Na'vi (AKA
his cat people) out of the bag.

Your thoughts?