Moviemaker James Cameron has rejigged the storyline to his Avatar sequel after tribesmen and women in the Amazon rainforest gave his hit film the thumbs down.
The director was hosting a fundraiser for the indigenous Achuar in South America, who are fighting oil companies for rights to their land, and thought it would be a good idea to invite tribal leaders to a screening of his blockbuster – because he thought they’d approve of the environmental message in the film.
But their comments after the film were not what he was expecting and now he has rewritten parts of his planned sequel as a result of the negative remarks.
He explains, “A bunch of Achuar were bused in to watch Avatar at an IMAX theater in 3D. These are people who had never been in a movie theater. They’re wearing feathers and paint.
“They put on the (3D) glasses and watch Avatar, the first movie they’ve ever seen… This one woman, a tribal elder, says, ‘In this movie, they solved their problems by fighting. We are not afraid to fight, but we have decided to solve our problems through dialogue. So this movie needs a better message.’
“I felt like I’d been Punk’d, but it made me think… That has altered the story somewhat.”
