"We were all a little intimidated": Avatar 2 Writer Was Warned After ...

Avatar: The Way of Water opened up the possibility to make multiple follow-ups for the series and James Cameron has a lot to do with it. While the visuals managed to engage the audience in an almost gripping fashion, it was in the writers’ room where the story grew into being. Cameron had a big hand to play both as a director and as a writer.

Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, Shane Salerno, and James Cameron were all in charge of penning down a script that was to make the movie the massive hit that it became now. It was this experience of seeing him as a writer which made Jaffa realize that although he may seem like a grand figure, in the writers’ room; he was just one of them.

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James Cameron is known for a lot of ups and downs while on set when it comes to his behavior. While it may not be ideal, everyone around him just has to somewhat deal with it to an extent. However, that was not the case for the writers of Avatar: The Way of Water. Rick Jaffa revealed that it was really important for everyone within the writers’ room to be comfortable with each other and not be as intimidated, which was a problem initially as everyone was highly intimidated by Cameron.

“We were all a little nervous and intimidated, I think. But the thing about Jim, in terms of the writer’s room, is that you have to remember he’s a writer also. I mean, you think of him as a director or just technological genius and this bigger-than-life character. But in a writer’s room, he’s just one of the writers. One of the guys, as it were.”

To be able to come up with the best ideas, the environment often got personal. This was ideal as everyone within the room became comfortable with each other. From the other writers to Cameron himself, everyone was sharing aspects of their lives that could later benefit the movie. The strong familial aspect that was the key foundation of the script was one which sprouted because of the comfort within the writers’ room.

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When asked about James Cameron’s behavior while in the room, Rick Jaffa was thankful to not have experienced any of the issues that he is otherwise infamous for. He admitted that while the writers had been fortunate enough to not have experienced that, they were sure to be true because he is indeed a strong-headed person.

“There did get a couple of times where we’d start to argue. There was one time he and I were arguing a story point and Shane at the end of the table, just leans down the table and says, ‘Stay down Luke, stay down.'”

Jaffa talked about an incident where he and Cameron got into an argument because he was not open to change. When he thinks of something, it is highly difficult to change his mind. This argument got so bad that he had to be stopped before things got worse. However, they even managed to find a way around it by slowly crafting the idea into his mind until he would agree.

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Source: Really? No Really?