Yahoo Movies Jon Landau digs into the environmental message of Avatar: The Way of Water
Avatar: The Way of Water producer Jon Landau said he believes the franchise's strong environmental message has the potential to "inspire" audiences.
Avatar: The Way of Water will be released in cinemas and IMAX from 16 December.
Video transcript
TOM BEASLEY: Wanted to ask about the environmental message, because that feels like something that's so important to all of you making it. I guess, how easy was it to make a major Hollywood movie that has that message so clearly at its heart?
JON LANDAU: I think initially when we were making the first Avatar, it was something that the studio had to be convinced wasn't a negative. And what we tried to say to them is that we have a responsibility to tell stories that have societal themes. If you look back at classic literature, whether it's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", or "To Kill a Mockingbird", or these other stories, there are stories that influence societal views on things, we can do that too in movies. We have to entertain first. And I think that avatar illustrated that we can entertain, but we can still inspire. "Avatar-- The Way of Water" is a continuation of that.
TOM BEASLEY: And you alluded to, those messages are now so much more, I guess, accepted by people. There are obviously still some climate-skeptic people. But there are a lot fewer of them, and they're a lot quieter than they were 10 years ago.
JON LANDAU: Well, it's great to hear you say that you think there are less people today who are skeptical of the climate change issues. Maybe Avatar played some role in that. We want to play a continued role in awakening people to the issues that face our world.
Those issues are environment, those issues are societal, and I think "Avatar-- The Way of Water" touches on both of those things. The sullies, in these movies, are refugees who seek safe haven with the clan of people who don't want to accept them.
We have a force with machines and weapons, invading a society. For what reason? For greed. These are all things that are important topics to discuss today.
