Avatar accoladesJames Cameron received multiple awards and nominations for his direction in the film.
Awards and nominations Award
Wins
Nominations
6
6
3
9
0
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
0
1
2
8
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
2
0
1
6
9
1
1
0
1
0
1
3
5
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
4
2
3
0
2
1
1
0
4
0
1
0
4
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
2
0
5
0
1
0
1
0
1
2
2
0
2
0
1
0
2
0
2
2
2
0
1
1
1
0
2
1
1
11
11
3
9
2
2
3
6
7
12
0
2
0
1
Wins 66 Nominations 145 Note
^ Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They recognize several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.
Avatar is a 2009 epic science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron .[ 1] [ 2] Produced by Lightstorm Entertainment , Dune Entertainment , and Ingenious Film Partners , and distributed by 20th Century Fox ,[ 3] the film stars Sam Worthington , Zoe Saldana , Stephen Lang , Michelle Rodriguez , and Sigourney Weaver .[ 1] Avatar premiered in London on December 10,[ 4] and was released in the United States on December 18.[ 5] Made on a production budget of $237 million,[ 6] Avatar grossed $2.923 billion,[ 7] breaking numerous box office records ,[ 8] [ 9] including becoming the highest-grossing film of all time and the first film to gross $2 billion.[ 10] [ 11] [ 12] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 337 reviews.[ 13]
Avatar won the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Art Direction , Best Cinematography , and Best Visual Effects , and was nominated for a total of nine, including Best Picture and Best Director .[ 14] The film garnered four nominations at the 67th Golden Globe Awards ceremony, and received two awards for Best Film – Drama and Best Director . Avatar was nominated for eight British Academy Film Awards , winning Best Production Design and Best Special Visual Effects . The film's achievement in visual effects were praised by the Visual Effects Society , who honored it with six accolades during their annual awards ceremony. Avatar was also nominated for the Directors Guild of America Awards , the Producers Guild of America Awards , and the Writers Guild of America Awards . The film was nominated for ten Saturn Awards and it went on to win all ten at the 36th Saturn Awards ceremony. Zoe Saldana's win for the Saturn Award for Best Actress marked a rare occurrence for an all-CG character.[ 15]
Avatar received recognition from numerous North American critics' associations. The film garnered nine nominations for the Critics' Choice Awards of the Broadcast Film Critics Association where it won Best Action Film and several technical categories.[ 16] The Austin Film Critics Association and the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association placed the film on their lists of the year's top ten films.[ 17] [ 18] Phoenix Film Critics Society honored the film with Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design and Best Visual Effect awards and also included it on its top ten films of the year list.[ 19] It won two of the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association awards for Best Visual Effects and Most Original, Innovative or Creative Film,[ 20] and the New York Film Critics Online honored the film with its Best Picture award.[ 21]
In December 2009, the American Film Institute recognized the film and Cameron's advances in CGI effects with their yearly "AFI Moments of Significance" award claiming it "will have profound effects on the future of the art form".[ 22] In January 2010, it was announced that the Southern Sky Column , a 3,544-foot (1,080 m) quartz -sandstone mountain in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Zhangjiajie , Hunan , China, had been renamed "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain " (阿凡达-哈利路亚山) by the city government in honor of the film.[ 23]
^ a b McCarthy, Todd (December 10, 2009). "Avatar " . Variety . Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2023 .
^ Yamato, Jen (December 16, 2022). "13 years ago, Avatar 2 was impossible. Inside the groundbreaking plan to pull it off" . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on December 17, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2023 .
^ "Avatar (2009)" . AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2023 .
^ Finke, Nikki (November 16, 2009). "Avatar World Premiere in London Dec. 10" . Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on September 6, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2023 .
^ McClintock, Pamela; Fleming, Michael (December 11, 2007). "Fox shifts Avatar , Museum " . Variety . Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2023 .
^ Patten, Dominic (December 3, 2009). "Avatar 's True Cost – and Consequences" . TheWrap . Archived from the original on July 2, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2023 .
^ "Avatar " . Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved March 19, 2023 .
^ Coggan, Devan (June 21, 2015). "Box office report: Inside Out scores biggest original debut ever with $91 million" . Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2023 .
^ Lowe, Kinsey (January 6, 2016). "Box Office Records Broken By Star Wars: The Force Awakens – The List" . Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2023 .
^ Segers, Frank (January 25, 2010). "Avatar breaks Titanic worldwide" . The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2023 .
^ Tartaglione, Nancy (March 13, 2021). "Avatar Overtakes Avengers: Endgame As All-Time Highest-Grossing Film Worldwide; Rises To $2.8B Amid China Reissue – Update" . Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2023 .
^ Finke, Nikki (January 31, 2010). "#1 Avatar Rides Past $2 Billion Worldwide And Reigns For 7th Straight Weekend; Edge Of Darkness No Bright Spot For Mel; When In Rome Gets Lost At Box Office" . Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on May 13, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2023 .
^ "Avatar " . Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved March 14, 2024 .
^ "The 82nd Academy Awards (2010) Nominees and Winners" . Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2012 .
^ Cohen, David S. (June 24, 2010). "Saturn Awards open Pandora's box" . Variety . Retrieved June 24, 2010 .
^ "The 15th Critics' Choice Awards Nominees" . Broadcast Film Critics Association . Archived from the original on February 17, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2010 .
^
Robinson, Anna (December 15, 2009). "Austin Film Critics Awards 2009" Archived February 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine . Alt Film Guide . Retrieved December 16, 2009.
^ Wilonsky, Robert (December 16, 2009). "DFW Crix Up in the Air With Year-End Tally" . Dallas Observer . Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2010 .
^
Boyd, Colin (December 22, 2009). "'Basterds' Dominates Phoenix Film Critics Awards" Archived January 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine . Get the Big Picture . Retrieved December 22, 2009.
^ Robinson, Anna (December 21, 2009). "St. Louis Film Critics Awards 2009" Archived October 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . Alt Film Guide . Retrieved December 22, 2009.
^ Davis, Don (December 14, 2009). "N.Y. Online Critics like 'Avatar' " . Variety . Retrieved December 15, 2009 .
^ "AFI Moments Of Significance" . American Film Institute . December 2009. Archived from the original on December 17, 2009.
^ " "Avatar" inspires China province to rename mountain" . China Daily . January 26, 2010. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011.