Wondering why we have yet to see a sequel to James Cameron’s “Avatar,” the highest grossing movie of all time?
Blame it on the guy’s love of — and borderline obsession with — deep sea diving. This Friday sees the release of what’s been tying up the acclaimed director: “Deepsea Challenge 3D.” The documentary follows Cameron and his team as they attempt to take a submersible to the deepest depths of the ocean — further than anyone’s ever gone before. Fans eagerly awaiting the three planned “Avatar” sequels — reportedly, filming will finally begin later this year — probably weren’t too happy about this not-so-little side project.
“Yeah, you’d have to ask Jim that, but I’m sure they [weren’t],” says “Deepsea” co-director John Bruno, with a laugh. “[But] as the film slowly reveals, this was Jim’s passion, always.”
Bruno, a longtime collaborator of Cameron’s who won an Oscar for the visual effects on the filmmaker’s “The Abyss,” captured the famous director as he and his team of experts built their own submersible and managed to successfully craft the technology to reach a depth of 36,000 feet in the Mariana Trench, which is located in the western Pacific Ocean.
Because of the nature of the sub, only one person could go down — Cameron.
“You could not design it to be a two-man,” says Bruno. “It would have been exponentially bigger, heavier and probably unmanageable.”
One would also think scientists who’ve spent their whole lives studying this stuff would be a little bitter that it’s a wealthy Hollywood director who got to take the plunge. But not so, says Rob Munier, vice president for marine facilities and operations at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, where Cameron donated the sub after reaching his goal.
“It’s not a dilemma,” says Munier. “There’s quite a bit of respect for what Jim has done, can do, and I think, will do in the future . . . The oceanographic community looks at this as another exciting input.”
Now, in addition to preparing the underwater craft for display at the American Museum of Natural History, the Woods Hole team has been documenting and understanding the technology and designs Cameron used and is working to make them publicly available. Woods Hole says regulations prevent them from taking the sub down themselves. But it doesn’t mean Munier can’t fantasize.
“From the perspective of an ocean engineer or a scientist,” he says, “that’s probably a pretty universal dream.”