Director James Cameron will dedicate his highly anticipated sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, to his late good friend Bill Paxton.
Paxton died of a stroke in February 2017 at the age of 61, just days after undergoing open-heart surgery to repair his damaged aortic heart valve.
Cameron, 63, directed five films at Paxton – The Terminator, Aliens, True Lies, Titanic and Ghosts of the Abyss – and he will honor his late friend “at the end of a very long credit crunch,” according to Showbiz 411.
Dedication: Director James Cameron will dedicate his highly anticipated sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, to his late good friend Bill Paxton
Bill and James: Cameron, 63, has directed Paxton in five films – The Terminator, Aliens, True Lies, Titanic and Ghosts of the Abyss – and he will be honoring his late friend ‘at the end of a very long credit crunch’, per Showbiz 411
No details were given about the dedication, although it’s not surprising given the actor and filmmaker were friends for 36 years before his death.
Cameron announced in a statement after Paxton’s death that they had met on the set of a low-budget Roger Corman film called Galaxy of Terror.
“I slapped a brush in his hand, pointed to a wall and said, ‘Paint this!’ We quickly found the creative spark in each other and quickly became friends,” Cameron said at the time.
Longtime friends: No details were given about the dedication, although it’s not surprising given the actor and filmmaker were friends for 36 years before his death
“What followed was 36 years of filmmaking together, helping each other develop projects, diving trips together, growing up each other’s children together, diving the wreck of the Titanic in Russian submarines together,” he added.
“The world is a lesser place for his death and I will miss him deeply,” concluded Cameron.
Cameron would eventually cast him as the “punk leader” who meets Arnold Schwarzenegger’s title character in “Terminator,” before giving him a bigger role as Private Hudson in 1986’s “Aliens.”
Together: “What followed was 36 years of filmmaking together, helping each other develop projects, diving trips together, growing up each other’s children together, diving the wreck of the Titanic in Russian submarines together,” he added
He later played savvy spy car salesman Simon in Cameron’s 1994 classic True Lies and Brock Lovett in Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster Titanic.
Her most recent project was the 2003 documentary Ghosts of the Abyss, which was directed by Cameron and narrated by Paxton.
Cameron announced in December 2017, just nine months after Paxton’s death, that he plans to cast Paxton in his Avatar sequels.
Bill’s roles: He later played savvy spy car salesman Simon in Cameron’s 1994 classic True Lies and Brock Lovett in Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster Titanic
Casting: Cameron announced in December 2017, just nine months after Paxton’s death, that he was planning to cast Paxton for his Avatar sequels
“I was staring down the course of four other Avatar films and thinking of a good place that would go well with Bill,” Cameron said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“Then of course he died unexpectedly before I gave him a presentation. This denied us the next chance to work together. I would have loved to have continued working with Bill and I’m sure he felt the same way,” Cameron said.
Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar: The Way of Water hits theaters on December 16th.
Fits well: “I was staring at four more Avatar movies and thinking of a good place, a good place for Bill,” Cameron said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly
Upcoming: Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar: The Way of Water hits theaters on December 16th