Director James Cameron is in such a good mood after early reviews and box office takings for Avatar: The Way of Water he says he wants to make all of his movies in Aotearoa from now on.
Filmed in Wellington, in conjunction with Wētā Digital, the movie cost $550 million to make and has already earned $880 million at the global box office in the first week - leaving it on track to crack more than $1.5 billion by New Year's Day.
The cast of Avatar and their director have been taking The Way of Water to the world one blue carpet premiere at a time.
Cameron knows exactly what's at stake with his Avatar empire, both professionally and personally.
He plans to deliver the next chapter in two years - with two more films to come after that - and make all of them in Aotearoa.
That will be music to the ears of 1500 Kiwi-based crew who've been working on them.
"I couldn't be prouder of the New Zealand team. I think we had in the order of 15-1600 hundred people in New Zealand who had jobs on this thing - a lot of them at Wētā - also 500 ish on the live-action, on the set construction, the props, the subs, the crab suits, the ship, the water tank - which we shot up in Auckland," Cameron said. "I couldn't be prouder of them and what they accomplished, especially in the middle of a pandemic.
"For a couple of years there, we had a little bubble reality, where we could work freely and all of that sort of thing. But man it was such a joyful experience to work and create there and I plan to make all my future films in New Zealand as well there, ongoing, so good on ya Kiwis!"
Watch entertainment editor Kate Rodger's full story above.
