"I’m as amazed as you are": Sigourney Weaver talks about how James Cameron's Avatar perfectly resonates with today

Sigourney Weaver says she’s “as amazed as you are” that stories James Cameron mapped years ago now feel tuned to 2025, and she lays out why. As per the Blavity report dated December 3, 2025, Sigourney Weaver remarked in the Avatar: Fire and Ash cast interview,

“I’m as amazed as you are...When Jim wrote these scripts years ago, he put things in there that we are living through now,”

citing “war, refugees, homelessness, mixed-race families, and unprocessed grief.” The third film, Avatar: Fire and Ash (in theaters December 19), arrives framed by Cameron’s own emphasis on grief, loss, trauma, and stopping cycles of violence after Neteyam’s death. As per a GamesRadar+ report dated December 5, 2025, James Cameron stated,

“it's a movie about grief. It's a movie about loss, it's a movie about trauma, and it's a movie about how you heal.”

Early reactions call the film big and emotionally heavy, and Cameron publicly mourned producer Jon Landau at the world premiere. As per a People.com report dated December 2, 2025, James Cameron said,

“There’s one person conspicuously absent on this stage tonight...Jon Landau...and his spirit infuses all the Avatar films.”

“I’m as amazed as you are”: where Sigourney Weaver said it, and what she meant

Sigourney Weaver used the Shadow, and the Act cast interview during the Avatar: Fire and Ash press run to explain why the movie lands differently now. Sigourney Weaver stated,

“I'm as amazed as you are that these scripts that he wrote you know in 200 11 and 12 um resonate so strongly.”

She added further,

“We have war now. We have refugees. We have homelessness. We have mixed race families and and and we have unprocessed grief because in our society it's like hurry up, get over that.”

She positioned Kiri’s journey inside present-day anxieties that audiences recognize outside the theater. The film’s timing stacks with coverage on U.S. morning shows and premiere-week interviews spotlighting those themes while reminding viewers of the December 19 release.

Why Avatar resonates right now: war, refugees, grief, and family?

Cameron has repeatedly tied the new film’s focus to real cycles of harm and healing. As per a GamesRadar+ report dated December 2, 2025, James Cameron remarked,

“It's a movie about loss, it's a movie about trauma, and it's a movie about how you heal, and how you go forward, and how you pick up your pack and you march on, and how you break the cycle of violence that is created by the hatred that comes from that loss. And we're seeing that playing out in the world today.”

A frame that aligns with Sigourney Weaver’s list of today’s pressures and with the Sully family’s mourning in Avatar: Fire and Ash. Premiere-night emotion added real-world weight. As per a People.com report dated December 2, 2025, James Cameron stated,

“There’s one person conspicuously absent on this stage tonight… Jon Landau,”

calling his death “a blow” while noting “his spirit infuses all the Avatar films.” Critics have emphasized the same mix of scale and feeling.

What Cameron’s been saying: the pre-written “saga,” rewrites, and guardrails

Cameron has framed this release as the capstone of a planned arc rather than a mere sequel. As per a Gizmodo report dated December 2, 2025, James Cameron said,

“I don’t think of Fire and Ash as a sequel. I think it was a culmination of a saga,”

while noting any future films would begin a new saga. He has also been open about discarding and revising earlier work to protect what made Avatar connect. As per a Variety report dated September 22, 2022, James Cameron stated,

“I wrote an entire script for the sequel, read it and realized that it did not get to level three. Boom. Start over.”

During this press cycle, he has reiterated that the storytelling remains human-made. As per a Variety report dated December 8, 2025, James Cameron remarked,

“We honor and celebrate actors. We don’t replace actors,”

In a discussion about AI and performance. Together, those positions explain why Sigourney Weaver’s comments ring true now: the saga was architected early, then refined to meet the moment audiences are living through.

Stay tuned for more updates.