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Disney has licensed exclusive global rights to the Avatar franchise from Fox and James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment — and the director will help to develop the attractions, CEO Bob Iger says. The first will be at Animal Kingdom in Orlando. The goal, he says, is to enable visitors to “enter the Avatar universe and explore it first-hand.” Cameron adds that “to bring that to life at Animal Kingdom is fantastic because it’s so thematically aligned. … We want to do things that maybe they haven’t even thought of.” Tom Staggs, who runs Disney’s theme parks, says the company is “just beginning the development phase” for a complex that will begin construction in 2013 and include Avatar-themed shops and food destinations to “bring that world to life.” Although he wouldn’t say how much the company has budgeted, he compared the scope of the first project to the 12-acre Cars Land site at Disney California Adventure Park. Cameron is working on two Avatar sequels that he plans to release around Christmas 2014 and 2015. ”That seems to correspond well” with the park plans, he says — noting that the destination will include environmental features that don’t appear in the movie. Iger says the attraction will open after the movies, although “we’re in the ballpark.” Avatar will add jobs in the ”low single digit thousands,” Staggs says. Here’s the release:
BURBANK, Calif. — Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide is joining forces with visionary filmmaker James Cameron and Fox Filmed Entertainment to bring the world of AVATAR to life at Disney parks. Through an exclusive agreement announced today by Disney, Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment and Fox, Disney will partner with Cameron and producing partner Jon Landau to create themed lands that will give theme park guests the opportunity to explore the mysterious universe of AVATAR first hand. Disney plans to build the first AVATAR themed land at Walt Disney World, within the Animal Kingdom park. With its emphasis on living in harmony with nature, Animal Kingdom is a natural fit for the AVATAR stories, which share the same philosophy. Construction is expected to begin by 2013.
“James Cameron is a groundbreaking filmmaker and gifted storyteller who shares our passion for creativity, technological innovation and delivering the best experience possible,” said Robert A. Iger, President and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “With this agreement, we have the extraordinary opportunity to combine James’ talent and vision with the imagination and expertise of Disney.”
“AVATAR created a world which audiences can discover again and again and now, through this incredible partnership with Disney, we’ll be able to bring Pandora to life like never before. With two new AVATAR films currently in development, we’ll have even more locations, characters and stories to explore,” said James Cameron. “I’m chomping at the bit to start work with Disney’s legendary Imagineers to bring our AVATAR universe to life. Our goal is to go beyond current boundaries of technical innovation and experiential storytelling, and give park goers the chance to see, hear, and touch the world of AVATAR with an unprecedented sense of reality.”
The agreement announced today gives The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) exclusive global theme park rights to the AVATAR franchise and provides for additional AVATAR themed lands at other Disney parks. The other locations will be determined by Disney and its international theme park partners. James Cameron, Jon Landau and their Lightstorm Entertainment group will serve as creative consultants on the projects and will partner with Walt Disney Imagineering in the design and development of the AVATAR themed lands.
“This exciting new venture combines the world of AVATAR with the enormous reach of Disney and the incomparable talent of Jim Cameron,” commented Fox Filmed Entertainment chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman. “While Jim is bringing audiences further into Pandora with the next two chapters in the AVATAR motion picture saga, the theme park attraction will likewise bring a new dimension to the amazing universe he created.”
“AVATAR is a uniquely powerful franchise that has global appeal with audiences of all ages. Its spectacular settings, intriguing characters, imaginative creatures, and strong themes of family and loyalty make it a perfect fit for Disney,” said Thomas O. Staggs, Chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “We can’t wait to give our guests the ability to journey to Pandora and explore the incredible immersive world of AVATAR in person.”
In addition to setting a global box office record, AVATAR has been hailed as one of the most innovative and visually stunning movies ever produced. With its advanced motion capture and 3-D digital projection technologies developed by James Cameron and his team, moviegoers were able to connect with the world of AVATAR in new and engaging ways.
This new venture complements Walt Disney Parks & Resorts’ strategic efforts to continue to invest in its core theme park businesses around the world while simultaneously expanding into other parts of the family vacation business.
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Star Wars Star Tours and Avatar…wow. I think this shows that Walt Disney Studios has no true/new Franchises in the works. It’s going to be interesting to see what movies/properties are slated over the next two years that have true franchise potential. If they’re licensing other brands to make money, I feel like something is definitely up…
I don’t considering how Disney has the various Marvel films in the pipeline along with Oz: The Great and Powerful, various Pixar films that are a ticket to print money, a new take on The Black Hole, the Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp, John Carter of Mars, and obviously more to come.
But you can’t blame Disney for wanting more visually imaginative attractions at their theme parks, which Star Wars and Avatar certainly provide.
The original Star Tours opened over 20 years ago… That’s a pretty weak comparison. It just shows a desire to expand the brands they represent in the parks, which is something they’ve always done. Not a huge fan of Avatar, but I have to imagine this will be done well.
Blueto?
Star Tours has been there for over 20 years. Indiana Jones was a long time ago. It’s not like it’s a new notion to license other properties for the parks. Whether Avatar is enduring as Star Wars or Harry Potter is an open question. Seems more interesting than a land devoted to talking Cars at least.
Unoplutonium. Avatar sucked.
*you* thought it sucked.
So did I. It’s cowboys ‘n blue indians, with a suffocating green-weenie eco-religious sludge poured on top.
Aside from advanced CGI, what exactly is the attraction?
I thought it sucked to. It was to Cowboy and Indian films what Star Wars was to knight films. Avatar was a metaphor for how America subjugated the “red man”. Very simplistic and heavy handed. It was visual masturbation and nothing else.
OldGuard..i think it has less to do with whether they’ve squeezed all of the juice out of existing franchises. It’s more because Avatar is such a unique property..billions in gross with 2 more movies coming out. As a property, it eclipses the value of anything ANYONE has in the pipeline over the next few years. Its a nobrainer.
That’s what Avatar should have been in the first place.
I think Disney is vastly over-estimating the fandom of that movie… It was a press-fueled anomaly, not a the next Star Wars… There’s no way Avatar 2 does as well.
which planet are you living on? mars?
Aegis is right. The film did so well due to the novelty surrounding the technology. Sequels = no novelty = lower numbers
“There’s no way Avatar 2 does as well”?? Avatar 2 is possibly the only film coming out which is guaranteed to make more than $1.5 billion worldwide (and that is a low ball). It is also perhaps the only film coming out which is guaranteed to make over $400 million domestic.
Ya, this film is going to do pretty well…
Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the Avatar franchise is made. Avatar-the T-shirt, Avatar-the Colouring Book, Avatar-the Lunch box, Avatar-the Breakfast Cereal, Avatar-the Flame Thrower. And last but not least, Avatar the dolls.
Yes, the percentage that Avatar made from it’s $2.7 billion worldwide gross could not possibly be considered “real” money. Put your pipe down.
This is a fascinatingly bizarre response to the foot traffic seen at the Universal Studios Florida resort due to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
All the more bizarre is that this is a licensing deal where Disney doesn’t control the property and can’t use this across their entire marketing and merchandising markets around the world…
…when they’re sitting on the 10th largest film franchise in the world (and still growing) with Marvel…
…which they own lock, stock and barrell.
I predict by 2020 they’re really going to regret the longterm and extravagant licensing and royalty deals they had to agree to in order to make this. Disney Studios florida had to completely re-brand their park and erect a giant Mickey hat in front of their life-size Chinese Theater just to find a legal means of downplaying some of those regretfully longterm agreements…
Idiots…
Universal Studios already has a Marvel section at its Islands of Adventure park, so not sure that Disney can use those characters in its parks.
Disney acutally is prohibited from using Marvel characters at its East Coast themeparks because they were licensed to Universal Studios for its Islands of Adventure pre-merger.
If I’m reading that correctly, they could use Marvel characters at Disneyland in California?
Not so fast on Marvel. Universal Orlando’s agreement stands for as long as they follow the terms of their existing contract. So Disney is limited in how they can use Marvel in the parks. Not completely, but I am not so sure they could make their own Marvel Super Hero Island. This would explain Disney interest in other current properties.
I agree with the earlier poster, Avatar will make a much better theme park ride then movie so I am optimistic.
Honestly I am a bit surprised they haven’t expanded their Star Wars attractions. 34 years, 2 great movies, 1 good movie, 3 bad movies, about a million products, and still going strong.
*Banging head on the table*
That’s a lot of hype and cash for a blue-tinged Pocahontas rip-off.
As long as they don’t do it like the awful “Terminator” show at Universal City Theme Park. Ugh, boys on bikes.
Its going to be hard to re-create Pandora with Disney staples like cement walkways, metal railings, trash containers, et cetera. It almost seems antithetical to the concept behind the film. I’m surprised Cameron signed off on this. He certainly doesn’t need the money.
I don’t understand all this hate for Avatar. Sure it isn’t the greatest movie of all time but it did provide almost 3 hours of immersing escapism and pure entertainment value that I haven’t seen in the majority of films lately. I don’t expect every movie to be the next Dark Knight, Aliens, or Godfather and I wasn’t expecting Avatar to be either. What I expected was what I got just under 3 hours of pure entertainment and escapism. Knowing that Disney has an excellent history of creating an immersing atmosphere and experience for the properties it has in its parks I think Avatar is a perfect fit for the company.
No! We need to have an Aliens theme park ride. First you land in the Drop Ship roller coaster ride, then you get off and enter the APC ride into the Atmosphere Processor, then you get off and take a tour into the bowels of the Colony to enter the Nest, then you get to see a life size Alien Queen scaring the poops put of you, then after a animatronic Ripley and Newt threaten the Queen’s nest, fire and explosive effects go off and you are whisked away on a tram to the outside where you re-enter the Drop Ship roller coaster ride and as you leave, the Colony ride literally explodes behind you with lot’s of out of control explosives and then some people are hurt badly, some sue the park, some are rushed to the Hospital but WOW, what an e-ride.