'Wellington has done so well': thousands gather for Avatar 3 premiere

Actors Sam Worthington, Cliff Curtis, Jack Champion and Duane Evans Jr, along with producers and crew of the third Avatar film, walked the red carpet through the central city via Blair Street to the door of the Embassy Theatre.

Director James Cameron, who was recently made a New Zealand citizen, told RNZ on the red carpet that the turnout for the premiere was great to see.

"I think it represents a lot of civic pride and national pride in the film sector here," he said. "We only have crews here because of the Aotearoa local filmmakers."

But there was work to be done to keep the film industry thriving in New Zealand, he said.

"I don't want big-shot producers from Hollywood flying over our heads to get to Australia, which is what's happening right now.

"We all have to work together to continue the success of our screen sector. We got hit hard by Covid, we've got to get young people into it, we've got to train them, we need training programmes."

Cameron said he would love to see the government revisit the rebate scheme. Although eligibility was expanded in November, he said it was still "not enough".

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said at the time the updates would empower the screen sector to attract a broader range of productions.

Avatar: Fire and Ash had 1,600 crew at its peak, and took three years to put together.

Eric Saindon, senior VFX supervisor, told RNZ he'd tallied the number of compute hours, or render time, for the whole film. Run on one processor, he said, it would take 145,000 years to render the footage.

Joe Letteri, another senior VFX supervisor, told RNZ that Cameron was the kind of director who encouraged innovation: "That's why we do what we do, we love doing something we haven't done before."

Daniel Barrett, senior animation supervisor, echoed Cameron's statements on the value of the screen industry for New Zealand and for Wellington.

"It's so important," he said. "We talk about the support that filmmakers get coming to this country, but Wellington has done so well over the years. I feel so lucky, I grew up here, and now I'm doing this."

Crowds had begun to form for the premiere of the third Avatar film as early as midday, with people packing out the barriers, flocking to balconies on nearby buildings, and climbing trees and bus stops to get a glimpse of the action.

Australian actor Sam Worthington told RNZ the crowd was "amazing".

"People are going walking past saying, 'You're interrupting my shopping'," he joked. "Or they're actually just connected to it."

It was nice to be back in the city, he said. "When we film these, we're here for long blocks of time, and the city is so gracious."

What should people watch out for in the film, we asked Worthington?

"I think a lot of New Zealanders might notice themselves," he said with a laugh. "I think the amount of crew that we used from Wellington was incredible, so I'm sure they'll see themselves in there somewhere."

"People here are extremely talented, otherwise a movie like Avatar wouldn't film down here."

Jack Champion, who plays Spider, said he'd grown up making these movies as a teenager in Wellington. He'd had his first beer at an Irish bar on Cuba Street and would go down to Karaka Bay to skip rocks.

Now 21, and back in the city for the premiere, he'd paid a last visit to the Chocolate Fish cafe in Miramar to say goodbye, with the business recently announcing its closure.

By 6.30pm, cast, crew and VIPs had made their way into the Embassy for the screening of Avatar: Fire and Ash, which hits local cinemas on 18 December.