Of the rare few good things to come out of 2022 was Avatar: The Way of Water – for its visuals and ambitious finale. But those weren’t the only factors that made the James Cameron film an epic narrative. Due to the technologically evolved machinery involved in bringing the scenes to life, Avatar 2 was already heightening expectations and countering a ballooning budget. It was understandable then why the director would leave no stone unturned to finish the spectacle with a ballad that is as epic as the story of Pandora itself. That’s where The Weeknd came in.
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James Cameron Establishes The Weeknd in His Pandora
Avatar: The Way of Water is a masterclass on immersive storytelling. With a visually striking world set as its foundation, Avatar built upon Cameron’s dream of telling a story that would be a legacy unto itself. The magnitude of that dream was so grand that the idea which began sowing its seed in 2009 (1994, to be technically accurate) had to wait for more than a decade so the rest of the world could catch up with its scale.
It was when Avatar came out that Grammy-winning singer, The Weeknd, fought growing mental health struggles alongside barely scraping by to avoid the threat of homelessness. It was in such a state that the singer would somehow find an inlet into one of the theatres showcasing the dynamic tale of James Cameron and The Weeknd would walk out of the place 3 hours later, inspired and headed toward success that would grab the world by its horns – just as his muse, Avatar had done.
It was almost poetic that the lives of these two great artists merged into each other an odd 13 years later. With Cameron instilling the hymn of The Weeknd in Avatar: The Way of Water, the incredible success of the singer – now forever melded with the story of Pandora – receives almost a dreamlike end, just as his song Nothing is Lost does to the film.
Avatar 2 Director Celebrates The Weeknd on Twitter
On January 15, 2023, James Cameron celebrated the singer who delivered the final finishing touches to tie up his sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water. The Weeknd’s involvement with the project was announced in early December of last year with his music set to drop one day before Avatar 2‘s scheduled premiere date. Exactly a month to the date has passed since the singer dropped Nothing is Lost. On the anniversary, James Cameron and The Weeknd took to Twitter to mark and honor the occasion.
Great to see The Weeknd last night and celebrate his fantastic song, “Nothing is Lost (You Give Me Strength).” He’s the ideal artist and I can’t imagine a better song to end Avatar: The Way of Water. pic.twitter.com/WnsDgSAz5g
— James Cameron (@JimCameron) January 14, 2023
honored to work with this master. 💙 https://t.co/Kslh4wfK2L
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) January 14, 2023
The intensely building, nostalgic, and powerful ode to the grandeur of Pandora and the story of the Na’vi that was contained within The Weeknd’s hauntingly sublime song – Nothing is Lost (You Give Me Strength) – was truly a worthy finish to the project that has been too long in the making. The song is available for streaming on multiple platforms, including Spotify and iTunes.
Avatar: The Way of Water is in theatres.
Source: Twitter | James Cameron
