The Original Avatar Was Almost Rated R (& Why That Would Have Been A Mistake)

Audiences packed theaters worldwide to see James Cameron’s long-gestating passion project, which led to “Avatar” becoming the first film to cross the $2 billion mark (via Collider). Today, it remains the highest-grossing film of all time, with its many re-releases earning the film an accumulated gross of over $2.9 billion (via Box Office Mojo). That’s a lot of green, even for Pandora. 

But its historic legacy could have played out much differently. Director Robert Rodriguez, during a 2018 interview with ScreenRant about the Cameron-produced “Alita: Battle Angel,” revealed that Cameron had different plans for his 2009 sci-fi adventure, saying,  “… part of what Jim [Cameron] did on Avatar originally, he wrote that to be an R-rated movie. He knew he needed to pull some stuff back so it could be for all audiences, PG-13.” While “Avatar” contains its fair share of intense moments, the film’s PG-13 rating not only made it so that the film never made pushed things too far but also so that it could have a better chance of succeeding. 

While Cameron’s own mature movie ventures, such as “Aliens” and “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” have more than turned a profit, it would be too risky for the already ambitious “Avatar.” Given its massive budget, the film needed to bring in as wide an audience as possible to ensure its success. Safe to say, Cameron made the right decision.  

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