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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Entertainment
Jen Yamato

'Avatar' defied the cynics. 13 years later, it's back in theaters to set the stage for 'Avatar 2'

It was December 2009 when Australian actor Sam Worthington, unaware of how massively his role as an ex-Marine on a mission to a new planet was about to change his life, received a bit of advice from James Cameron.

The movie they'd been working on for two years, the sci-fi epic "Avatar," was about to hit theaters — and there was some doubt as to how the film, with a reported production and marketing budget of $430 million, would fare with audiences.

"Jim told us that science fiction may not translate as well," Worthington told the Los Angeles Times ahead of the film's 4K theatrical rerelease, beginning Friday, designed to reintroduce the best picture nominee to audiences before its highly anticipated sequel "Avatar: The Way of Water" opens in December. "He said, 'When the movie comes out just take yourself away, out of the world for a bit. Go live on an island or go up a mountain and try not to read anything.' And I did."

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