James Cameron unveils the incredible number of visual effects in Avatar 3

There are 83 times more digital shots in Of Fire and Ashes than in Terminator 2 at the time…

James Cameron’s most digital project ever.

The director dropped the figure: Avatar 3 contains a simply crazy number of VFX shots. We far exceed what the big Hollywood blockbusters have been able to display in recent years, Avengers: Endgame Understood.

In an interview for Vanity Fairthe director remembers his beginnings with CGI: modestly on Abyss (1989), then more ambitious on Terminator 2 (1991). Back in the T-1000 days, he promised to limit the number of shots requiring effects. In the end, he had delivered 42 plans. He says: “We finished Terminator 2 with 42 VFX shots, it took a year, and it was really, really difficult to finish the last ones. We had to give our all to those 42 shots.”

Technology has evolved. The possibilities have multiplied. And for Avatar 3the scale is completely different: around 3,500 CGI shots! Cameron details:

“This year, we are finishing Avatar 3 with 3,500 digital shots. And not just for the characters: the animals, every blade of grass, every leaf, every tree… everything is in CG.”

In thirty years, the filmmaker has multiplied his VFX production by 83! Avatar: Of Fire and Ashes includes almost 20 VFX shots per minute…

For comparison, VFX supervisor Dan DeLeeuw previously spoke about the monumental work behind Avengers: Endgamewhich was already around 2,500 VFX shots (in 2018), including character transformations, CG environments and creations like Smart Hulk or Thanos.

Likewise, Zack Snyder confirmed in 2020 that Zack Snyder’s Justice League had approximately 2,800 VFX shots.

But Avatar 3 went even stronger and established a new absolute record. He beats his own recordAvatar: The Way of Water which already had 3,240 VFX shots (in 2022). The first Avatar (2009) was made with around 2,500 VFX shots.

Avatar: Of Fire and Ashes will be released on December 17 in France in cinemas.