重映引发怀旧潮！《阿凡达》夺回全球票房第一，卡梅隆盛赞中国
上周，科幻巨制《阿凡达》（Avatar）突然定档重映（reissue），满满的怀旧气息（nostalgia）溢满互联网。
这部曾横扫全球的大片（blockbuster），也为春节后佳片匮乏、重陷萧条的内陆影院注入一剂强心针。
十年前的2010年1月4日，《阿凡达》首次登陆（debut）内陆影院。彼时，中国电影业的“黄金十年”刚刚起步。虽然全国只有几百块3D银幕，IMAX银幕仅14块，但国人对于特效大片的热情汹涌澎湃。彼时，为了一张电影票，有人在凛凛寒风排长队，有人不惜重金从黄牛手中购票。
十年后，当年曾为《阿凡达》一票难求的影迷们，重回影院缅怀自己的青春时，许多人依然在惊叹：这特效还这么震撼，一点都没有过时。
而十年前，还在读小学或中学的你，或许当年没有机会在大银幕看到这部影片。如今遍地都是3D银幕的中国，应该很容易帮你领略到潘多拉（Pandora）星球的奇观世界。
上周末，在内陆重映的《阿凡达》狂揽1.36亿元（约合2千万美元），从而使其全球总票房超过《复仇者联盟4》(Avengers: Endgame)，一举重回世界第一的宝座。
这十年来，或许无人敢质疑《阿凡达》的视觉特效（visual effects），但关于这个外星“钉子户”遭遇人类强拆队的故事，却也在文化层面被各种解读。
在《阿凡达》上映前一天，中国日报视频连线正在新西兰制作《阿凡达》续集的詹姆斯·卡梅隆导演。从他对中国电影市场的观察，到《阿凡达》续集的拍摄情况，此时正在新西兰的卡神都坦诚地一一作答。
他主动提起关于这个故事曾被批评偏简单的评论，卡梅隆不以为然，认为《阿凡达》的故事能在全世界不同文化背景的观众群中都引起共鸣。
While asked the legacy about the film over past decade, Cameron replies: “As a filmmaker, you want to be able to resonate with people everywhere. I know some people criticize the story for being too simple. I think it wasn't that simple. It was universal. It was something that everybody everywhere could understand and emotionally related to.”
在《阿凡达》中，最让人津津乐道的，大概是身高约三米、蓝色皮肤的纳威人(Na’vi)。
虽然是外星人，但他们纤细修长的身形，和矫健敏捷的身手，会让你在观影时忘记他们是外星土著，甚至会情不自禁被他们那种带着原始野性的美所吸引。对于自己的“杰作”，卡神依然很是得意。
“With the first Avatar film, we just did everything we could imagine. That would make it a better experience for you in the theaters from 3D screens to the quality of the animation and the sense of reality as well as the way in which we captured the performances and translated them to the characters (the 3-meter-tall, blue-skinned Na’vi aliens),” says Cameron.
而对于中国电影市场的恢复和中国对于疫情的有力防控，卡梅隆表示了惊叹，对中国能重映《阿凡达》谢意满满。
Cameron says that he has felt “truly incredible about what has happened in China”. He adds he feels impressive about Chinese film authorities’ effort to promote local cinemas and bring people back to theaters.
卡梅隆表示“对于中国发生的一切感到不可思议”。他表示对中国电影人推广本土影片，让观众重返影院的努力印象深刻。
“You guys (Chinese people) are leading the charge. That's fantastic. I love it that you've got the virus under control enough and you've got the economy reemerging as well as cinema reemerging.”
“你们中国观众，真是太棒了。你们把病毒控制得足够好，重振经济也让电影业复苏，我很赞赏。”
尽管去年内陆影院因防疫需要，曾关闭六个月。但当影院灯火重明后，中国影迷们也以热情回报了久别重逢的电影。从去年国庆期间的大热影片《我和我的家乡》到春节档的“黑马爆款”《你好，李焕英》，内陆电影市场证明了其巨大的潜力和活力。
China took decisive action shortly after the COVID-19 outbreak earlier last year, enforcing a six-month-long closure of more than 75,000 screens in around 12,000 cinemas until it became safe again for moviegoers to return.
Propelled by a bunch of Chinese blockbusters ranging from the patriotic anthology My People, My Homeland to the recent Spring Festival smash hit Hi, Mom, the country has seen an inspiring revival from the impact of the pandemic, becoming the world’s largest movie market in terms of yearly box office gross since October last year.
对此，卡神也是赞不绝口。
“The Chinese film industry is growing in strength and ability to tell these Chinese stories at a world-class level,” says Cameron.
“中国电影行业的实力和能力都在增长，能够讲述世界级别的中国故事，”卡梅隆说。
“I'm honored that they (referring to the China Film Administration and Chinese distributors) chose Avatar to be one of the films to sort of remind people what the cinematic experience is,” he adds.
“我很荣幸他们（指国家电影局和中国发行人）选择了阿凡达，让观众重拾观影体验。”
当然，最让影迷们翘首以盼的，莫过于《阿凡达》续集到底什么时候能出来。对此，卡神表示：我真的真的有在埋头苦干。另外，他表示自己这十年也没闲着，并给出了特别有说服力的例子，比如潜到深达万米的马里亚纳海沟去拍了纪录片《詹姆斯-卡梅隆的深海挑战》。
“I spent two years building a submarine and diving it to the deepest place in the world, which is in the Deepsea Challenge. I didn't even really start until 2012,” says Cameron.
此外，他还监制了《阿丽塔：战斗天使》（Alita: Battle Angel），而且还从学术层面上以一己之力聚集神仙阵容，邀请雷德利·斯科特、斯皮尔伯格、乔治·卢卡斯和诺兰等大咖拍了六集纪录片《詹姆斯·卡梅隆的科幻故事》（James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction）。
此外，他解释说《阿凡达》4部续集的实际拍摄工作开始于三年前。团队用了一年半的时间进行动作捕捉的拍摄，而后再拍演员的实景。但因为疫情缘故，制作还是被耽误了4个月。好消息是第一部续集《阿凡达2》会在2022年12月公映。
He says the actual production of the four Avatar sequels started around three years ago — with a year and a half for performance capture, followed by the live action filming of the human characters. “But there's no cameras involved in the performance capture process. We're capturing data of the performances. That's how we bring those beautiful, big, blue Na’vi people to life,” says Cameron.
But he reveals that he had also seen the project delayed for four months due to the pandemic, and the good news is that the first Avatar sequel will be released in December 2022.
好吧，虽然《阿凡达》续集的定档时间总是一改再改，我们也就选择相信卡神，他一定是在默默积蓄洪荒之力，酝酿让我们惊掉下巴的《阿凡达2》、《阿凡达3》、《阿凡达4》和《阿凡达5》。
浮云一别，流水十年。《阿凡达》归去又复来的这十年里，你是否愿意和China Daily分享下，你所经历的人生起伏？
记者：徐帆
编辑：李雪晴
实习生：陈羽洁