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Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Film |
Founded | 1990 |
Founder | James Cameron Lawrence Kasanoff |
Headquarters | |
Key people | James Cameron Jon Landau |
Lightstorm Entertainment is an American independent production company founded in 1990 by filmmaker James Cameron [1] [2] and producer Lawrence Kasanoff. The majority of its films have been distributed and owned by 20th Century Fox, now known as 20th Century Studios. [3] [4] It has produced several films including Terminator 2: Judgment Day , True Lies , Titanic , Alita: Battle Angel and the Avatar film series; Cameron has employed other filmmakers to produce and direct films under the Lightstorm banner.
In 1993, Cameron would meet his future Titanic and Avatar co-producer Jon Landau during the production of True Lies, and would persuade Landau to join the company. [5]
In 1995, the company established a first look deal with 20th Century Fox. [6]
The company's logo depicts a bowman using a lightning bolt as an arrow.
Title | Release Date | Director | Writer | Distributor | Co-production companies | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Avatar 3 | December 19, 2025 | James Cameron | screenplay by: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver story by: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno based on characters created by: James Cameron | 20th Century Studios | TSG Entertainment | [19] |
Avatar 4 | December 21, 2029 | screenplay by: James Cameron Josh Friedman story by: James Cameron Josh Friedman Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver and Shane Salerno based on characters created by: James Cameron | TBA | [19] | ||
Avatar 5 | December 19, 2031 | screenplay by: James Cameron Shane Salerno story by: James Cameron Josh Friedman Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver Shane Salerno based on characters created by: James Cameron | TBA | [19] |
Title | First air date | Last air date | Creator | Network | Co-production companies | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
True Lies | March 1, 2023 | May 17, 2023 | Matt Nix | CBS | 20th Television Anthony Hemingway Productions Flying Glass of Milk Productions Wonderland Sound and Vision | [20] [21] [22] |
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian filmmaker. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era. He often uses novel technologies with a classical filmmaking style. He first gained recognition for writing and directing The Terminator (1984) and found further success with Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), True Lies (1994), as well as Avatar (2009) and its sequels. He directed, wrote, co-produced, and co-edited Titanic (1997), winning three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing. He is a recipient of various other industry accolades, and three of his films have been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romantic disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. Incorporating both historical and fictionalized aspects, it is based on accounts of the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet star as members of different social classes who fall in love during the ship's maiden voyage. The film also features an ensemble cast of Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Danny Nucci, David Warner and Bill Paxton.
True Lies is a 1994 American action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron, based on the 1991 French comedy film La Totale! The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a U.S. government agent, who struggles to balance his double life as a spy with his familial duties. Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Art Malik, and Tia Carrere star in supporting roles. True Lies was the first Lightstorm Entertainment project to be distributed under Cameron's multimillion-dollar production deal with 20th Century Fox, as well as the first major production for the visual effects company Digital Domain, which was co-founded by Cameron. It was also the first film to cost $100 million.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is a 2003 science fiction action film, the third installment in the Terminator franchise and a sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). It is directed by Jonathan Mostow and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, and Kristanna Loken. In its plot, the malevolent artificial intelligence Skynet sends a T-X (Loken)—a highly advanced Terminator—back in time to ensure the rise of machines by killing top members of the future human resistance as John Connor's (Stahl) location is unknown. The resistance sends back a reprogrammed T-850 (Schwarzenegger) to protect John and Kate (Danes).
Terminator is an American media franchise created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. It is considered to be of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction. The franchise primarily focuses on a post-apocalyptic war between a synthetic intelligence known as Skynet, and a surviving resistance of humans led by John Connor. Skynet fights with an arsenal of cyborgs known as Terminators, designed to mimic humans and infiltrate the resistance. A prominent model throughout the films is the T-800, commonly known as the Terminator and portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Time travel is a common aspect of the franchise, with humans and Terminators often sent back to alter the past and change the outcome of the future.
Jon Landau was an American film producer, who won an Academy Award for Best Picture for producing James Cameron's disaster film Titanic (1997). He was also nominated for producing Cameron's science fiction films Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). As of 2024, these are three of the four highest-grossing films of all time.
Avatar is a 2009 epic science fiction film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. The cast includes Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver. It is the first installment in the Avatar film series. It is set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are colonizing Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to mine the valuable mineral unobtanium, the room-temperature superconductor mineral. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi, a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The title of the film refers to a genetically engineered Na'vi body operated from the brain of a remotely located human that is used to interact with the natives of Pandora.
James N. Gianopulos is an American businessman. He served as chairman and CEO of 20th Century Fox and most recently as chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures until his departure in September 2021.
James Cameron is a Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer who has had an extensive career in film and television. Cameron's debut was the 1978 science fiction short Xenogenesis, which he directed, wrote and produced. In his early career, he did various technical jobs such as special visual effects producer, set dresser assistant, matte artist, and photographer. His feature directorial debut was the 1982 release Piranha II: The Spawning. The next film he directed was the science fiction action thriller The Terminator (1984) which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the titular cyborg assassin, and was Cameron's breakthrough feature. In 1986, he directed and wrote the science fiction action sequel Aliens starring Sigourney Weaver. He followed this by directing another science fiction film The Abyss (1989). In 1991, Cameron directed the sequel to The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and also executive produced the action crime film Point Break. Three years later he directed a third Schwarzenegger-starring action film True Lies (1994).
Avatar: The Way of Water is a 2022 American epic science fiction film directed and co-produced by James Cameron, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver from a story the trio wrote with Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno. Distributed by 20th Century Studios, it is the sequel to Avatar (2009) and the second installment in the Avatar film series. It features Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovani Ribisi, Dileep Rao and Matt Gerald reprising their roles from the first film, with Sigourney Weaver returning in an additional role and Kate Winslet joining the cast. It follows a blue-skinned humanoid Na'vi named Jake Sully (Worthington) as he and his family, under renewed human threat, seek refuge with the aquatic Metkayina clan of Pandora, a habitable exomoon on which they live.
Avatar 3 is an upcoming American epic science fiction film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. Distributed by 20th Century Studios, it is the third film in Cameron's Avatar franchise, and a sequel to Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).
Pandora – The World of Avatar is a themed area inspired by James Cameron's Avatar located within Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Set a generation after the events of the Avatar films, the area is based upon the fictional habitable exomoon, Pandora, and features Pandora's floating mountains, alien wildlife, and bioluminescent plants. Spanning 12 acres (4.9 ha), Pandora – The World of Avatar includes two major attractions, Avatar Flight of Passage and Na'vi River Journey, as well as retail and dining outlets.
Avatar is an American epic science fiction media franchise created by James Cameron and Jon Landau, which began with the eponymous 2009 film. Produced by Lightstorm Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Studios, and consists of associated merchandise, video games, and theme park attractions. Avatar is set in the mid-22nd century on Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system. The film's central conflict is between the indigenous Na'vi led by Jake Sully and Neytiri, and humans led by Colonel Miles Quaritch from the Resources Development Administration (RDA), a megacorp which has arrived on Pandora to colonize and pillage it for its natural resources. The title of the series refers to the genetically engineered Na'vi body operated from the brain that humans pilot to interact with on Pandora.
Alita: Battle Angel is a 2019 American cyberpunk action film based on Yukito Kishiro's manga series Gunnm. It was directed by Robert Rodriguez, produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau, and written by Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis. Rosa Salazar stars through motion-capture animation as Alita, a cyborg who awakens in a new body without memory of her past and sets out to uncover her destiny. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley and Keean Johnson play supporting roles.
The following is a list of unproduced James Cameron projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, Canadian film director James Cameron has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell into development hell or are officially cancelled.
Avatar 4 is an upcoming American epic science fiction film co-written, co-edited, co-produced and directed by James Cameron. Distributed by 20th Century Studios, it will be the sequel to Avatar 3 (2025) and the fourth installment in the Avatar franchise. It will star Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña, among others from the original cast, reprising their roles. The screenplay is written by James Cameron and Josh Friedman. Cameron stated that Avatar: The Tulkun Rider is being considered as a possible title for the film.
True Lies is an American action television series created by Matt Nix, based on the 1994 film of the same name by James Cameron, itself based on the 1991 French film La Totale! by Claude Zidi, Simon Michaël, and Didier Kaminka. It premiered on March 1, 2023 and ended on May 17, 2023 on CBS. In May 2023, the series was canceled after one season.