Masterpiece - "The Abyss" On August 16, 1954, James Cameron was born in a middle-class family in Ontario, Canada. His father was an electrical engineer and his mother was an artist. He was destined to be born with talents in both engineering and art. As a teenager, James Cameron had extraordinary engineering talents and organizational skills. He once led his friends to build a trebuchet that could leave a crater on the ground, and used a homemade submarine to kill a mouse. Sent to the bottom of the Niagara River. In terms of art, he studied painting with his mother for many years and held art exhibitions in his hometown. He also started writing science fiction novels at a very young age. A science fiction novel he wrote when he was 12 years old was regarded as his science fiction film. The prototype of the story "The Abyss". When he was 14 years old, he saw the master Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey". James Cameron was stunned at the time and watched it 10 times in a row in the cinema. From then on, the desire to make a movie sprouted in his heart. He began shooting crude films with his father's 8mm camera.

After graduating from high school, James Cameron was admitted to the physics department of California State University. He soon became disappointed with the university courses and ran out of campus to enter the society. He worked as a mechanical repairman and drove a large truck for others. In 1977, James Cameron saw George Lucas' classic science fiction film "Star Wars" and realized with excitement that this was what he wanted to create. This allowed James Cameron to establish his own direction in life and start to get busy. He had never received professional training and began to look for opportunities to become a filmmaker. He was familiar with various film production equipment from lenses to camera guides, and even I made my first shooting plan with my friends, and wanted to use the equipment at hand and homemade models to make a 10-minute science fiction film!

James Cameron was lucky. His talent was quickly appreciated by Hollywood producer Roger Kaman, from whom he got his first job in life. Film work - creating stunt models for Kaman Studios' 1980 film Star Wars, and the following year he was promoted to second unit director and cinematographer on another of the studio's films, Galaxy of Terror. Production Designer. James Cameron is one of the few directors with a background in stunt design. In his subsequent film creations, James Cameron has always placed stunt production in an extremely important position, and often participated in the design and implementation himself. Stunt production. In James Cameron's movies, excellent stunt production not only always creates jaw-dropping and exciting visual effects, but also integrates naturally with the plot without feeling stiff or showy at all. But that's not to say that stunts are all there is to James Cameron's movies. James Cameron is not only an excellent stunt engineer, but also has imagination that ordinary engineers do not have, and some other things.

In 1981, James Cameron's first directorial work came out. This film called "Piranha 2: Breeding" was shot entirely in Italy. James Cameron did not get along well with the Italian-speaking staff. After the filming was completed, the producers were worried about this fledgling film. The director's disdain prevented him from participating in the final edit of the film. 25-year-old James Cameron was so angry that he used a credit card to pry open the door of the studio. He learned how to use an Italian editing machine and edited the entire film by himself in a few weeks. During this process, James Cameron made up his mind to stop working for anyone and make his own movies.

While in Italy, James Cameron suffered from disease, hunger and poverty. The painful experience caused him nightmares every night. Once he had a very clear nightmare: being chased by a machine killer from the future. Based on the content of the nightmare, James Cameron wrote a movie script "Terminator" soaked in his outstanding talent.

He sold the script to producer Gore Anni Hurt for one dollar, on the condition that he direct the film in his own way. Gall agreed to his request. In 1984, James Cameron released his first self-written and directed film "Terminator". The film cost only $6.5 million to shoot, but earned $36 million at the domestic box office and won critical acclaim from fans and critics alike.

The success of "Terminator" brought James Cameron widespread attention in the film industry. In 1985, James Cameron and Sylvester Stallone co-wrote the script for Rambo 2, which was also a box office success.

The representative work "Alien 2" was released in 1986, the second work "Alien 2" written and directed by James Cameron. This film is a remake of the famous director Ridley Scott's science fiction classic "Alien". James Cameron's sequel wisely avoids repeating the original film's style, instead moving the human and alien battlegrounds from a single spaceship to a massive space base, in the style of an action movie. The horror story that took place in space is reinterpreted, and the entire film is permeated with a spirit of heroism. The visual effects of this film are also absolutely first-class. Its art design gives people a pure (rather than formalistic) mechanical aesthetic pleasure that Cameron's films always have, and its special effects production can also be said to have reached the level of computer-generated images. The peak before getting involved in film production. "Alien" received seven Oscar nominations, including Best Actress for Sigurdonna Weaver, and won Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.

In 1989, the third major work "The Abyss" written and directed by James Cameron came out. This science fiction film is somewhat different from Cameron's other similar works. Although it is interspersed with many thrilling fights and descriptions of mysterious creatures on the seabed, its focus is still on using a slower pace and telling it in a science fiction background. A story about the relationship between a couple. Many viewers felt that the film's pace was too slow and drowsy, which made the film less successful at the box office than Cameron's other films. But there are also many movie fans who were moved by the emotions of the characters in the film. When writing the script for "The Abyss", Cameron was experiencing an emotional crisis with his second wife, film producer Gower Anne Hurd, and naturally brought his own experience into the creation, bringing together men and women. The protagonist's emotional entanglements are deeply touching.

The masterpiece "Terminator 2" In 1991, the long-awaited "Terminator 2" by movie fans finally surfaced. The film shocked the film industry and earned US$200 million in domestic box office. Won four Academy Awards (Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Makeup, and Best Sound Editing). "Terminator 2" announced the advent of an era. People finally believed that movie stunts were omnipotent, and the only restriction was people's imagination. In every single scene, James Cameron also exerted his outstanding directing and editing talents, reaching a perfect level in terms of scene scheduling, use of montage and time control (too short is not satisfying, too long is boring), etc. The state of perfection.

After "Terminator 2", James Cameron established his own special effects production company "Digital Domain" in 1993 to compete with Lucas's "Industrial Light and Magic". In 1994, the first film "True Lies" with special effects produced by "Digital Realm" was released. This film tried to organically combine a spy thriller with a comedy plot, and successfully explored the humorous potential of action star Schwarzenegger, but what left the deepest impression on people was the "Sea Harrier" style shot at the end. Vertical takeoff and landing fighter. The scene in which it launches a "Maverick" missile and hits the cross-sea bridge against the background of the sea and sky is both spectacular and gorgeous, and has the same sense of reality as a military exercise; and the subsequent fight on the wing presents a complicated and exaggerated cartoon style . As a director, James Cameron was able to choose this unique weapon to play an "important role" in the film and maximize its charm, which once again proved his special interest and perception of the beauty of machines.

On the other hand, contrary to most films that depict agents as ruthless killing machines, "True Lies" depicts them as "good guys" in the traditional sense, once again embodying Cameron's unique optimism.

The masterpiece "Titanic" In 1997, James Cameron filmed the famous "Titanic". His spirit of pursuing the perfect goal in his mind was highest reflected in "Titanic". James Cameron personally handled almost everything, from drawing force analysis diagrams for stuntmen to explaining the ship's The Principle of Sinking, to sketching Jack in the film. During the filming process, James Cameron was also very strict with the actors and staff. The cold words from investors, the complaints from his subordinates, the freezing water, and the unimaginable difficulties encountered during the filming process all brought Cameron to the brink of collapse, but he still persisted and shouted almost Tragic and heroic words: "'Titanic' can be sunk, 'Titanic' cannot be sunk!"

All these efforts were not in vain. Three months after the release of "Titanic", the U.S. box office revenue reached 470 million U.S. dollars, and the international box office revenue exceeded 1.8 billion, making this film one of the highest-grossing films. The film was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won 11 of them, tying the record of "Ben-Hur". James Cameron also won the 70th Academy Award for Best Director. At the awards night, Cameron almost frantically raised the Oscar and loudly said the famous line in the film: "I am the king of the world!"

After his glory, James Cameron was unexpected He chose to "disappear". After "Titanic", he has not launched a big screen work. It was not until 2005 that he officially announced the filming of his new film - "Avatar", which is a live-action film combined with computer CG. Animated science fiction film. In an exclusive interview with the American "Time" magazine, the Hollywood director who is the most "burning" and "making money" admitted that it would be difficult for this film to surpass "Titanic" at the box office, but he immediately added One sentence: No one can surpass "Titanic". This great director who once shouted "I am the king of the world" at the Oscars and was described by many as a "tyrant" still looks domineering.

In the first weekend of 2010, the science fiction blockbuster "Avatar" still performed vigorously, achieving its "three consecutive championships" with a record-breaking third-week box office performance of 68.3 million. In just seventeen days since its release, "Avatar" has already grossed over one billion dollars worldwide! Challenging the peak record of "Titanic" is no longer a luxury. During the first weekend of the new year, no new films were released on a large scale in the North American market. James Cameron's latest masterpiece "Avatar" did not take its old rivals seriously at all. On the first day of the new year, "Avatar" grossed US$25.2 million, setting a new record for the highest New Year's Day box office in history. This weekend, the film undoubtedly topped the box office list with a score of 68.3 million U.S. dollars, easily achieving its third consecutive box office domination. This result also set a record for the third highest box office weekend in history. The second weekend performance of "Avatar" only dropped slightly by 2% from its opening weekend, setting a record for the highest box office in the second weekend. In the third week, it only dropped 10%, which shows that "Avatar" has unrivaled long-term revenue-generating ability.

According to estimates from box office statistics agencies, "Avatar" has grossed a total of US$352 million in box office in the North American market since its release 17 days ago, with an average of more than US$20 million per day; the total overseas box office has reached US$670 million, and the global cumulative box office has reached US$670 million. Breaking through the US$1 billion mark, reaching US$1.02 billion. It has ranked fourth in the global box office list, second only to Cameron's love epic "Titanic", "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" and "Pirates of the Caribbean 2". The critically acclaimed "Avatar" will rank second at the global box office next week. By then, the director of the film with the highest global box office in history will be James Cameron. Based on the current strong ability to attract money, coupled with the higher ticket prices and more theaters of "Avatar", it is not an extravagant hope to surpass the peak record of "Titanic" of US$1.84 billion.

As of January 7, 2010, the cumulative global box office of "Avatar" tonight will exceed the 1.11 billion of "Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King" Dollar, it only took 20 days to become the second highest-grossing film in film history!

As of the evening of January 8, the box office of "Avatar" has surpassed "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" with a box office of US$1.131 billion.

Of course, the current highest-grossing film in film history is still Cameron's "Titanic" with $1.842 billion.

Digression: After "Avatar", IMAX is expected to be built in large numbers across China