Connect with us

Published

on

Thirteen years on, James Cameron’s mega-budget Avatar sequel opens in cinemas next week, hoping to illicit that same appetite in cinemagoers for the 3D magic of the first.

While the medium has fallen out of favour, it remains Cameron’s preferred choice of viewing.

But not only will cinemagoers need 3D glasses – coming in at a whopping three hours and 10 minutes, it also requires stamina.

Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts

With production costs totalling around £285m (up there with the most expensive films ever made), to make it worth Disney’s while, the epic has to at least end up making it into the top five highest grossing movies of all time.

To do so, it needs audiences to want to see it more than once, which perhaps isn’t too unreasonable when you factor in that a huge amount of the money generated in both of Cameron’s previous blockbusters – Titanic and the first Avatar – came from cinemagoers paying to see the film’s multiple times.

But in a cost of living crisis do we have the cash now?

More on Kate Winslet

The film sees Sam Worthington return to the role of Na’vi leader Jake Sully and is rooted around the family he now has with warrior Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana.

“The movie’s mighty,” Worthington told Sky News.

“It’s a mighty film, and very heart-wrenching.

“We all went through a pandemic together as a whole world, and that’s a connection that we all have to each other… and it’s about us being connected as individuals – I think that’s very important to relate to and really take to heart.”

Thanks to the magic of motion capture, Sigourney Weaver returns, playing Jake Sulley’s adoptive teenage daughter.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘I needed to see it twice’

“It’s an experience so immersive and also takes your breath away,” she told Sky News, adding that she will need to see the film once more to get the full experience from it.

The sequel also features Kate Winslet in the cast as the matriarch of an ocean-bound clan.

Sigourney Weaver in Avatar: The Way Of Water. Pic: 20th Century Studios
Image:
Sigourney Weaver in Avatar: The Way Of Water. Pic: 20th Century Studios

For the Oscar-winning actress it was a chance to work, once again, with the filmmaker who put her on the Titanic:

“He (Cameron) asked and I said yes. Why on earth would I not?,” she told Sky News.

“Also, my children would never have allowed me to. They were like… just do it.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Kate Winslet on accepting Avatar role

Cameron, who overtook his own movie, Titanic, with Avatar as the highest grossing film ever in 2009, has already set the wheels in motion for the next films in the franchise – and spent much of the last decade preparing.

“It was a lot of time spent working on the script for four movies, production design for four movies, a bunch of new technology we needed,” he said.

“And then we started at full tilt five years ago… and then we shot two movies, actually part of the third one.”

Kate Winslet (L) in Avatar. Pic: 20th Century Studios
Image:
Kate Winslet (L) in Avatar. Pic: 20th Century Studios

Cameron also describes his new sci-fi epic as a “love letter to the oceans”.

“A lot of people [in 2009] picked up on the messaging around the rainforest and around the plight of indigenous cultures around the world.

“We have that in spades now because nothing has really got that much better – in the meantime, this one is my love letter to the oceans and a cry for people everywhere to be responsible for guardianship of the oceans.”

Right now the Na’vi’s survival might just depend on what happens off-screen more than on.

Avatar: The Way of Water is in cinemas on 16 December.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Holly Willoughby fined after colliding with moped and injuring rider

Published

on

By

Holly Willoughby fined after colliding with moped and injuring rider

TV presenter Holly Willoughby has been fined in court after she admitted driving without due care and attention when her car collided with a moped, injuring the rider.

The star, 44, pleaded guilty by post to the charge at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday but did not attend the hearing.

Willoughby was fined £1,653 alongside £130 in costs and a £661 victim surcharge and given six points on her licence, the Metropolitan Police said.

According to court documents, the incident happened on 28 August as she was driving her Mini Cooper near her home in Richmond, southwest London.

Police were called to Church Road, Barnes, following reports of a collision.

The rider of the moped, a 43-year-old man, was taken to hospital. His injuries were assessed as neither life-threatening nor life-changing.

Read more from Sky News:
Gavin Plumb loses appeal
Willoughby tells of ‘tough’ year

The presenter is best known for fronting Dancing On Ice as well as ITV daytime show This Morning, which she left in October 2023.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Sabrina Carpenter hits out at ‘evil and disgusting’ White House video featuring her song

Published

on

By

Sabrina Carpenter hits out at 'evil and disgusting' White House video featuring her song

Sabrina Carpenter has hit out at an “evil and disgusting” White House video of migrants being detained that uses one of her songs.

“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the pop star posted on X.

The White House used part of Carpenter‘s upbeat song Juno over pictures of immigration agents handcuffing, chasing and detaining people.

It was posted on social media on Monday and has been viewed 1.2 million times so far.

President Trump‘s policy of sending officers into communities to forcibly round up illegal immigrants has proved controversial, with protests and legal challenges ongoing.

Mr Trump promised the biggest deportation in US history, but some of those detained have been living and working in the US for decades and have no criminal record.

Carpenter is not the only star to express disgust over the administration’s use of their music.

More on Sabrina Carpenter

Olivia Rodrigo last month warned the White House not to “ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda” after All-American Bitch was used in a video urging undocumented migrants to leave voluntarily.

Read more from Sky News:
Pope urges Trump not to oust Venezuelan president by force

Government delays Chinese ‘super embassy’ decision

In July, English singer Jess Glynne also said she felt “sick” when her song from the viral Jet2 advert was used over footage of people in handcuffs being loaded on a plane.

Other artists have also previously hit out at Trump officials for using their music at political campaign events, including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Dame Joanna Lumley warns of ‘crisis hidden in plain sight’ – with 1.5 million older people set to spend Christmas alone

Published

on

By

Dame Joanna Lumley has warned of a “crisis hidden in plain sight”, with 1.5 million older people set to spend Christmas alone.

Age UK spoke to more than 2,600 people and found 11% will eat dinner alone on 25 December, while 5% will not see or speak to anyone the whole day.

Applied to the overall population, the findings suggest 1.5 million people will eat alone at Christmas, according to the charity.

Dame Joanna said the “silence can be deafening” for those left isolated and called it “a crisis hidden in plain sight”.

The actor and campaigner is now joining other luminaries including Dame Judi Dench, Brian Cox and Miriam Margolyes to back Age UK’s campaign against loneliness.

The charity says its volunteers made more than 70,000 minutes’ worth of calls to people during Christmas week last year and is urging people to donate.

‘A tragedy we don’t talk about enough’

Age UK said it also supports coffee mornings and festive lunches to give lonely people the chance to enjoy in-person interaction.

Dame Judi said: “For so many older people, Christmas can be a time of silence – days without conversation or company.”

Succession star Brian Cox called the issue “a tragedy we don’t talk about enough”.

He said: “Far too many older people are left spending the season in silence, when it should be a time of warmth, connection and joy.”

Brian Cox is another of the campaign's high-profile backers. Pic: PA
Image:
Brian Cox is another of the campaign’s high-profile backers. Pic: PA

Margolyes, of Harry Potter fame, added: “Growing older shouldn’t mean disappearing into the background, we need to be seen, heard and celebrated.

“That’s what Age UK is striving for – they’re changing how we perceive age.”

Read more:
What counts as a white Christmas?
CCTV shows festive thief

The charity’s chief executive, Paul Farmer, said: “Your donation could bring comfort, friendship, and care to an older person facing loneliness this winter.

“From friendly, weekly calls to local lunch clubs, we’re here to make sure no one spends winter alone. But we can’t do it without you.”

Continue Reading

Trending