14 DAY TRIAL // One of the things that made “Avatar” such a hit at the box office, aside from groundbreaking 3D effects, is the environmental theme, which again opened the dialog on the future of the Earth in the context of the current destructive tendencies.
Because he’s green all the way, James Cameron, together with producer Jon Landau, decided that the best present he could make to the 11 principal cast members would also be something green.
As Deadline puts it, Hollywood has a long tradition of offering cars to cast members as presents, especially if the movie they’re in turns out to be successful.
And “Avatar” was more than that: it shattered all existing records to become the biggest movie ever, with an international gross of over $2.7 billion, not including DVD sales and merchandise.
Spending $30,000 on a “top-of-the-line gas-saving Prius” for each of the 11 members of the cast is not really that much in this context. Moreover, it goes hand in hand with Cameron’s attempts at raising awareness on environmental issues.
“We’ve learned that Avatar producers James Cameron and Jon Landau presented 11 principal cast members of the mega-blockbuster film with gifts in the past few days: a blue Toyota Prius for each. But no word on whether any crew were included,” Deadline reports.
Since the entire crew working to make “Avatar” come to life on the big screen includes anywhere from 2,000 to 7,000 staff, it would be rather impressive if Cameron actually decided to give them too a similar, albeit less expensive, present.
However, Cameron had long hinted cast members should expect a surprise of this type, saying in an older interview “Avatar” was all about nature and being green – and Prius.
“My optimistic side says that Avatar did as well as it did for that reason, that there’s a time for a change, for a recognition that we have to answer for the way that we’ve been and remember our respect for nature,” he said, as per the aforementioned publication.
“We have to find a better way than the way we live today. It’s not that the movie converted people — it resonated with something that was already there, to find something inside for people and gave people a way to think about this. And if that manifests in people cutting down on their energy usage or recycle or buy a Prius…,” he added.