Lady Gaga named artist of the year at MTV’s Video Music Awards. Gaga, currently on tour with her album “Mayhem,” took the stage in a black ruffled dress with giant sleeves and purple accents. She thanked her fans as she held the VMAs Moon Person trophy.

“I cannot begin to tell you what this means to be rewarded for being an artist, being rewarded for something that is already so rewarding,” Gaga said before leaving the venue to perform a concert at Madison Square Garden.

Gaga’s win prevented Beyonce or Swift from emerging as the most-honored artist in VMA history. The pair remain tied at 30 VMAs each.

Host LL Cool J kicked off the ceremony at the UBS Arena in New York with a promise of show-stopping performances from legends such as Ricky Martin and Mariah Carey and a tribute to the late British rocker Ozzy Osbourne.

“Music is the force that brings us together,” host LL Cool J said. “Tonight we are leaving everything else at the door.”

Gaga went into the ceremony with the most nominations - 12 - for songs including “Die with a Smile,” her duet with Bruno Mars.

“Die with a Smile” was in the running for the night’s top honor, video of the year. Competitors included “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild.”

The VMAs began airing on MTV PARA.O in 1984 and became known for memorable moments such as an onstage kiss between Madonna and Britney Spears and Gaga’s appearance in a raw meat dress. CBS aired Sunday’s ceremony live.

New categories were added this year for best country video and best pop artist.

The nominees for country video include “Think I’m in Love with You” by Chris Stapleton, “Liar” by Jelly Roll and Wallen’s “Smile.”

(Reporting by Alicia Powell in New York and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

A group of activists wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags gathered around the TIFF sign at King Street and University Avenue, placing small rolled-up blankets smeared with fake blood — staged to resemble dead infants — at its base.

The protest broke out just as ticketholders were beginning to enter the nearby Roy Thompson Hall for the early evening premiere of crime drama “Roofman.” Police stood blocking demonstrators at the intersection, preventing them from moving any further.

Several protesters said they were rallying against Barry Avrich’s “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” a film about retired Israel Defense Forces Major-General Noam Tibon’s mission to rescue his family during the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.

The documentary’s team told The Canadian Press last month that they are not political filmmakers, nor activists but storytellers.

They added that films are meant to stimulate “debate from every perspective that can both entertain us and make us uncomfortable.”

The documentary was initially pulled from TIFF’s lineup over footage rights and security issues, sparking backlash from some politicians, Jewish groups, and entertainment figures.

Days later, TIFF reinstated the film and promised clearer communication around their programming decisions.

Neither TIFF nor the “Road Between Us” team immediately responded to requests for comment Saturday.

Some protesters also decried government inaction as Israeli strikes continue in Gaza and not enough aid is being allowed in.

Protester Mohammad Latifa Abdul Qader said he was concerned about TIFF “art-washing” Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza.

“Art shouldn’t be used for promoting genocide. It should be a platform for promoting things of integrity, like justice and peace, and helping people,” he said.

Najlaa Alzaanin, a Gaza native, said she was demonstrating to urge Canada’s government to take action.

“My entire family is still trapped in Gaza... and now they are being starved,” said Alzaanin, who came to Canada from Palestine as a student in 2019.

“I’m here to show support for my family and ask the Canadian government to do what they have to do to end this genocide.”

She said she also wants the government to fulfil a promise it made last year when it announced a special measures program to help bring those impacted by the Gaza crisis to Canada.

“Canada hasn’t fulfilled the promise they made,” she said.

“Our families are living a nightmare trying to survive. They are literally dying every minute.”

Police said there were about 12 protesters on festival street, and they left on their own. The Canadian Press video shows at least a couple of dozen people at one point in the demonstration.

More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed in the nearly two-year war in the Gaza Strip, local health officials said Thursday.

The war began when Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages.

Protesters said they had not yet seen “The Road Between Us,” which makes its world premiere next Wednesday.

With files from the Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2025.

Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, hits second hole-in-one in last nine . In the final round of the tournament, the tee shot from 16-year-old Woods on the par-three No. 3 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., rolled into the hole, delighting those watching on.

Woods celebrated in lowkey fashion, shaking hands with his playing partner and eventually picking his ball out of the hole – only after fixing some divots on the green.

Woods would eventually go on to finish tied for 31st in the Junior Players Championship standings at seven over, 16 shots behind eventual winner Miles Russell – Russell became the first two-time winner of the event.

Woods’ ace on Sunday was his second in the last nine months, having achieved the same feat at the PNC Championship in December last year.

Playing alongside his dad in the two-day, 36-hole competition which featured 20 major champions and their family members playing in a scramble format, the younger Woods hit his first ever hole-in-one on the par-three fourth hole.

The then-15-year-old was walking off the tee and didn’t initially realize that his ball had dropped in for eagle.

As the crowd roared, Charlie sheepishly asked: “Did it go in?”

Proud father Tiger was grinning ear to ear as they celebrated with a hug and a playful shove from the elder Woods.

“It was one of the highlights that we’ve ever had. We’re talking about earlier on the hole previous, he made his first eagle,” Tiger said at the time. “And now he just made his first hole-in-one. It was a magical two-hole stretch. I’m just so happy for him and for the enjoyment we had as a family.”

Charlie Woods has enjoyed a successful season in 2025, finishing tied-ninth at this month’s Junior PGA Championship, although that finish meant he narrowly missed out on automatic qualification to the Team USA squad for the upcoming Junior Ryder Cup. He was not selected with a captain’s pick.

Ben Morse, CNNmonths

Halsey bids big and Colman Domingo hosts Venice amfAR gala.

Hosted by an impassioned Colman Domingo in a bright green custom Valentino jacket, the event took place at the Arsenale during the Venice Film Festival.

More low key and intimate than it’s Cannes Film Festival counterpart, the event still attracted its share of celebrities including Jude Law, in Venice to promote “The Wizard of the Kremlin,” in which he stars as Putin.

The evening started with champagne, canapés, Italian spritz and negronis on the waterfront terrace as a DJ spun tunes and guests viewed the artwork to be auctioned off later in the evening.

As those attending were seated for a traditional Venetian dinner of Ombrina fish, Paris Jackson performed an acoustic set on stage.

During the dinner there was a live auction of contemporary artworks, jewellery and destination vacations raising US$3.4 million.

Director Julian Schnabel, who will present his latest film “In the Hand of Dante” at the festival next week, donated one of his sought-after plate portraits (a portrait of the winning bidder painted on broken dishes.) Introduced on stage by Jude Law, he decided on the spot to offer up two portraits to the two highest bidders raising 500,000 euros ($586,000) for each, one of which went to singer Halsey.

Talking earlier on the red-carpet Halsey revealed how amfAR had helped her in a very personal way:

“I, a couple years ago got diagnosed with two pretty severe autoimmune diseases and amfAR also contributes to autoimmune and cancer research. So the work they do allows people like me with less access than me to get treatment that they really, really need to live the lives that they deserve to live. So, it’s never been closer to home that it is right now.”

Schnabel was also presented with an Award of Inspiration from the charity in recognition of his longstanding commitment to amfAR’s lifesaving research.

The night ended with a high octane performance from pop star Ava Max, who got everyone on their feet dancing and then it was a rush to a sea of water taxis, waiting to whisk the guests off back to their Venice hotels or on to the after-party.

amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy. Since 1985, amfAR has raised nearly $950 million in support of its programs.

Louise Dixon, The Associated Press

#Stars: Celebrated as a cultural pioneer, he leaves behind a legacy as a master musician, mentor, and beloved family figure.

The success of AI #music creators sparks debate on future of music #industry.

McCann’s songs span a range of genres, from indie-pop to electro-soul to country-rap. There’s just one crucial difference between McCann and traditional musicians.

“I have no musical talent at all,” he said. “I can’t sing, I can’t play instruments, and I have no musical background at all.”

McCann, 37, who has a background as a visual designer, started experimenting with AI to see if it could boost his creativity and “bring some of my lyrics to life.” Last month, he signed with independent record label Hallwood Media after one of his tracks racked up three million streams, in what’s billed as the first time a music label has inked a contract with an AI music creator.

McCann is an example of how ChatGPT-style AI song generation tools like Suno and Udio have spawned a wave of synthetic music. A movement most notably highlighted by a fictitious group, Velvet Sundown, that went viral even though all its songs, lyrics and album art were created by AI.

It fueled debate about AI’s role in music while raising fears about “AI slop” — automatically generated low quality mass produced content. It also cast a spotlight on AI song generators that are democratizing song making but threaten to disrupt the music industry.

Experts say generative AI is set to transform the music world. However, there are scant details, so far, on how it’s impacting the US$29.6 billion global recorded music market, which includes about $20 billion from streaming.

The most reliable figures come from music streaming service Deezer, which estimates that 18 per cent of songs uploaded to its platform every day are purely AI generated, though they only account for a tiny amount of total streams, hinting that few people are actually listening. Other, bigger streaming platforms like Spotify haven’t released any figures on AI music.

Udio declined to comment on how many users it has and how many songs it has generated. Suno did not respond to a request for comment. Both have free basic levels as well as pro and premium tiers that come with access to more advanced AI models.

“It’s a total boom. It’s a tsunami,” said Josh Antonuccio, director of Ohio University’s School of Media Arts and Studies. The amount of AI generated music “is just going to only exponentially increase” as young people grow up with AI and become more comfortable with it, he said.

Yet generative AI, with its ability to spit out seemingly unique content, has divided the music world, with musicians and industry groups complaining that recorded works are being exploited to train AI models that power song generation tools.

Record labels are trying to fend off the threat that AI music startups pose to their revenue streams even as they hope to tap into it for new earnings, while recording artists worry that it will devalue their creativity.

Three major record companies, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Records, filed lawsuits last year against Suno and Udio for copyright infringement. In June, the two sides also reportedly entered negotiations that could go beyond settling the lawsuits and set rules for how artists are paid when AI is used to remix their songs.

GEMA, a German royalty collection society, has sued Suno, accusing it of generating music similar to songs like “Mambo No. 5” by Lou Bega and “Forever Young” by Alphaville.

More than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Damon Albarn, released a silent album to protest proposed changes to U.K. laws on AI they fear would erode their creative control. Meanwhile, other artists, such as will.i.am, Timbaland and Imogen Heap, have embraced the technology.

Some users say the debate is just a rehash of old arguments about once-new technology that eventually became widely used, such as AutoTune, drum machines and synthesizers.

People complain “that you’re using a computer to do all the work for you. I don’t see it that way. I see it as any other tool that we have,” said Scott Smith, whose AI band, Pulse Empire, was inspired by 1980s British synthesizer-driven groups like New Order and Depeche Mode.

Smith, 56 and a semi-retired former U.S. Navy public affairs officer in Portland, Oregon, said “music producers have lots of tools in their arsenal” to enhance recordings that listeners aren’t aware of.

Like McCann, Smith never mastered a musical instrument. Both say they put lots of time and effort into crafting their music.

Once Smith gets inspiration, it takes him just 10 minutes to write the lyrics. But then he’ll spend as much as eight to nine hours generating different versions until the song “matches my vision.”

McCann said he’ll often create up to 100 different versions of a song by prompting and re-prompting the AI system before he’s satisfied.

AI song generators can churn out lyrics as well as music, but many experienced users prefer to write their own words.

“AI lyrics tend to come out quite cliche and quite boring,” McCann said.

Lukas Rams, a Philadelphia-area resident who makes songs for his AI band Sleeping With Wolves, said AI lyrics tend to be “extra corny” and not as creative as a human, but can help get the writing process started.

“It’ll do very basic rhyme schemes, and it’ll keep repeating the same structure,” said Rams, who writes his own words, sometimes while putting his kids to bed and waiting for them to fall asleep. “And then you’ll get words in there that are very telling of AI-generated lyrics, like ‘neon,’ anything with ‘shadows’.”

Rams used to play drums in high school bands and collaborated with his brother on their own songs, but work and family life started taking up more of his time.

Then he discovered AI, which he used to create three albums for Sleeping With Wolves. He’s been taking it seriously, making a CD jewel case with album art. He plans to post his songs, which combine metalcore and EDM, more widely online.

“I do want to start putting this up on YouTube or socials or distribution or whatever, just to have it out there,” Rams said. “I might as well, otherwise I’m literally the only person that hears this stuff.”

Experts say AI’s potential to let anyone come up with a hit song is poised to shake up the music industry’s production pipeline.

“Just think about what it used to cost to make a hit or make something that breaks,” Antonuccio said. “And that just keeps winnowing down from a major studio to a laptop to a bedroom. And now it’s like a text prompt — several text prompts.”

But he added that AI music is still in a “Wild West” phase because of the lack of legal clarity over copyright. He compared it to the legal battles more than two decades ago over file-sharing sites like Napster that heralded the transition from CDs to digital media and eventually paved the way for today’s music streaming services.

Creators hope AI, too, will eventually become a part of the mainstream music world.

“I think we’re entering a world where anyone, anywhere could make the next big hit,” said McCann. “As AI becomes more widely accepted among people as a musical art form, I think it opens up the possibility for AI music to be featured in charts.”

Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press

VENICE, Italy — Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi arrived at the Venice Film Festival Saturday for the world premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” the kickoff to what’s expected to be the film’s major awards season push.

Isaac plays Victor Frankenstein and Elordi is the monster in this adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel, which del Toro has been dreaming about making for decades.

“It’s the movie that I’ve been in training for 30 years to do,” del Toro told The Associated Press recently.

A few hours before the premiere, del Toro said he feels like he’s in “postpartum depression” now that he’s completed the film, a gothic feast of sets.

Isaac said before they started making “Frankenstein,” del Toro told him, “I’m creating this banquet for you, you just have to show up and eat.”

“This film feels particularly personal,” Isaac added. ”I think ultimately it is about outsiders."

Elordi joined the production fairly late in the process, and threw himself into the childlike monster, who he didn’t find so hard to relate to.

“It’s a vessel that I could put every part of myself into,” Elordi said. “In so many ways the creature that is on screen in that movie is the purest form of myself, he’s more me than I am.”

There may be some disruption outside of the red carpet as an anti-war march is planned to take place in the evening, ending near the festival. Organizers hope to turn the spotlight to the war in Gaza.

The last time del Toro was at Venice was with “The Shape of Water” in 2017, which won the festival’s top prize that year before going on to pick up the best picture and best director Oscar in 2018. Netflix does not yet have a best picture winner in their arsenal, but is betting big on “Frankenstein.” Del Toro’s last film, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” won the streamer its first best animated film Oscar.

Like “The Shape of Water,” “Frankenstein” is up for the big awards at Venice, where it will be competing with films like Yorgos Lanthimos’s “Bugonia,”Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite,” Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” and Kaouther Ben Hania’s “The Voice of Hind Rajab.” Winners will be announced by the Alexander Payne-led jury on Sept. 6.

Netflix plans to release “Frankenstein” in theaters on Oct. 17, before it comes to streaming Nov. 7.

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press

Dispatcher shakes it off after announcing Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement over scanner.

That appears to be how officers in the Lansing, Michigan, area learned about the superstar singer’s betrothal to Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce.

The official announcement, made in a five-photo joint post on Instagram, marks the fairytale culmination of a courtship that for two years has thrilled and fascinated millions around the world.

Joyful chaos ensued nationwide, with oddsmakers taking bets on when and where the celebrity couple will wed. Swifties, the pop star’s enormous and ardent fan base, can even wager on the flavour of the wedding cake.

Kansas City-based tax preparer H&R Block sent out a light-hearted email to staff, telling them they could head home early to check social media feeds and debate potential wedding playlists.

“Celebrate love. Speculate about the dress. Argue whether the reception will be held in KC or a castle in Europe,” the email said.

Matthew Pittman, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, hastily organized a skit before his social media class began Tuesday, pretending to cancel a test because of the engagement.

“I can’t focus. You all can’t focus. Class is cancelled, get outta here,” Pittman told the students.

Video shows the students grabbing backpacks and rushing for the door. By the end of class, the video had around 50,000 views and by dinner around 1 million. It was so convincing that some news outlets mistakenly reported that Pittman actually did call off class because of the engagement. He had to reassure a higher up at the university that he hadn’t.

“This is going to be like a royal wedding,” said Pittman, who has dozens of Swift’s songs on his running and workout playlist. “We don’t have a real king or queen or prince or princess, but we have this now. This is the joyous, happy love story. A lot of people need it.”

Jordan, the Ingham County, Michigan, dispatcher, said the last big event that she watched with co-workers was Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2018 nuptials. Now she thinks they might watch Swift and Kelce’s wedding together, especially after what happened.

After the first scanner flub, an officer informed her, “You had an open mic there,” and then deadpanned, “That’s great news about Taylor Swift.”

Jordan tried to fix the problem, but laughter erupted when she continued: “Dispatch. I’m clear. Yeah. Aren’t you happy about Taylor Swift?”

Jordan had been eagerly awaiting the news from the singer, whose hit song “Shake It Off” spoke to her. “We do a hard job, lots of dark things, so it’s kind of nice to be able to laugh a little,” she said.

Officers played along with the scanner mishap, one asking, “Well, give us some more gossip, at least.”

“It’s a big ring,” Jordan said.

“Best hot mic ever,” an officer declared.

Jordan has been ribbed ever since. “I had one ask me when I was planning to retire, and I said not soon enough.”

Heather Hollingsworth, The Associated Press

Emma Raducanu backs Carlos Alcaraz’s bold new buzz cut at US Open.

NEW YORK - Briton Emma Raducanu gave Carlos Alcaraz’s hairstyle her seal of approval at the U.S. Open on Wednesday after the Spaniard divided opinion with his dramatic new buzz cut earlier in the week.

Alcaraz’s close-cropped style was the talk of Flushing Meadows on Monday when the second seed outclassed Reilly Opelka in his opener, with fellow tennis players and fans online all weighing in.

Raducanu, whose decision to team up with Alcaraz in the U.S. Open’s revamped mixed doubles tournament sparked romance rumors between the pair last month, said that the 22-year-old former champion owned his new look.

“I think he pulls it off. If you own a haircut like that, then it can work,” Raducanu told reporters after reaching the third round with a 6-2 6-1 win over Janice Tjen.

“I think, you know, mixed field, but whatever he does it’s not going to affect what he does on the court. I’m just happy to see him having fun with whatever.”

Alcaraz said following his first-round victory that the new haircut was the result of his brother mishandling the clippers when he wanted a trim before the tournament.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New York Editing by Toby Davis)

James Cameron on two decades of making ‘Avatar’ and the future he sees for movies.


NEW YORK — James Cameron recently turned 71 as he brought his third “Avatar” film, “Fire and Ash,” to the finish line.

Cameron first began developing “Avatar” more than 30 years ago. He started working on the first film in earnest 20 years ago. Production on “Fire and Ash,” which ran concurrently with 2022’s “The Way of Water,” got underway eight years ago.

By any measure, “Avatar” is one of the largest undertakings ever by a filmmaker. It’s maybe the only project that could make “Titanic” look like a modest one-off. Cameron has dedicated a huge chunk of his life to it. Now, as he prepares to unveil the latest chapter of his Na’vi opus on Dec. 19, Cameron is approaching what he calls a crossroads.

“As you get older you start to think of time in a slightly different way,” Cameron says from his 5,000-acre organic farm in New Zealand. “It’s not an infinite resource.”

Two more “Avatar” films are already written and have release dates, in 2029 and 2031. Right now, though, Cameron is focused on completing “Fire and Ash,” which is almost guaranteed to be the biggest movie of the fall. To get “Avatar” — a franchise already worth US$5.2 billion in worldwide tickets sales — back in the minds of moviegoers, “The Way of Water” will also be rereleased Oct. 3.

“As I told the brass at Disney, we’re right at the glide slope to land right on time for delivery,” Cameron says. “The first film was a nightmare. Movie two was hectic. But here, I keep having to pinch myself because it’s all going well. The film is strong.”

There may be no filmmaker more at the nexus of past and future blockbuster making than Cameron. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will arrive as Hollywood is reconciling itself to a new theatrical normal. In a movie industry of shrinking ambition, “Avatar,” an original spectacle that once was the wave of the future, is already beginning to look like an endangered species.

In a recent interview, Cameron reflected on his history with “Avatar” and what’s next for him, including a planned adaptation of Charles Pellegrino’s “Ghosts of Hiroshima.” For Cameron, most of his work is likely to touch on one of what he calls “the big three”: Nuclear weapons, machine super intelligence and climate change.

“Avatar,” a family saga that grows more complicated and darker in “Fire and Ash,” relates to the latter. The films are environmental parables, set in a verdant faraway world. Sustainability, community, connection to nature — these are some of the pillars of Cameron’s life right now, in the movies and outside them.

“I’m just a humble movie farmer,” he says, smiling, “who’s also a farmer farmer.”

AP: When you decided to embark on “Avatar,” was it more likely that if you didn’t, you’d spend your time mostly away from movies, doing deep sea exploration and other things?

CAMERON: It was sort of: Do the “Avatar” saga or follow my interests more. I knew that “Avatar” would be all-consuming, and it has been. When I set down that path, a reasonable projection was eight to 10 years to get it all written and do movie two and movie three together and get them out. But it’s actually turned out to be more than that. It was a major commitment and decision to make for me as a life choice. But the “Avatar” movies reach people and they reach people with positive messaging. Not just positive about the environment but positive from the standpoint of humanity, empathy, spirituality, our connection to each other. And they’re beautiful. There’s a kind of magnetic draw into the film. It almost feels like it’s being pulled out of the audience’s dreams and subconscious state.

AP: “Avatar” began as a dream, didn’t it?

CAMERON: I was 19. I was in college and I had a very vivid dream of a bioluminescent forest with glowing moss that reacted to your feet and these little spinning lizards that floated around. It’s all in the movie, by the way. The reason it’s in the movie is because I got up and painted it. That later became the inspiration, just a few years later, for a science-fiction script. I said, “Hey I got this idea for a planet where everything glows at night.” We wrote that in and it never went away.

Years after that, when I was the CEO of Digital Domain, I wanted to push Digital Domain to be able to create CG worlds, CG humanoid creatures using performance capture. I just threw the kitchen sink into the treatment called “Avatar.” So it came from almost a Machiavellian reason. I was trying to drive a business model for the development of CG. Of course, the answer I got from my technical team was: “We are not ready to make this film. We may not be ready for years.” But it still served that inspirational purpose, which was: Well, how do we get ready?

AP: “Ghosts of Hiroshima” would be your first non-“Avatar” feature as director since “Titanic” in 1997. What do you think when you hear that?

CAMERON: It’s interesting. As I said earlier, “Avatar” has been all-consuming. In the process, we’ve developed many new technologies. I enjoy the day-to-day process with a team. I’ve surrounded myself with really intelligent, really creative people who enjoy the process of the world building. We enjoy leveling up in our working process. It’s a long, steady state thing where I’m not having to create a new startup, build a team and then disband that team — the way the movies cycled for me back in the ’80s and ’90s. Now, I’m at a kind of a crossroads where I have to decide if I want to keep doing this.

Four and five are written. If we’re as successful as we might potentially be, I’m sure the films will continue. The question for me will be: Do I direct them both? Do I direct one of them? At what point do I pass the baton? How pervasive do I want it to be in my life?

AP: When do you think you’ll decide?

CAMERON: I’m not going to make any decisions about that until probably Q2 of next year, when the dust has settled. And there are also new technologies to consider. Generative AI is upon us. It’s going to transform the film business. Does that make our work flow easier? Can I make “Avatar” movies more quickly? That would be a big factor for me.

AP: You’ve said the movie industry needs to use technological advances to bring down budgets. Is that the way forward?

CAMERON: The theatrical business is dwindling. Hopefully it doesn’t continue to dwindle. Right now, it’s plateaued at about 30 per cent down from 2019 levels. Let’s hope it doesn’t get cannibalized more. In fact, let’s hope we can bring some of that magic back. But the only way to keep that magic alive and strengthen it is to make the kinds of movies people feel they need to see in a movie theater. Unfortunately, those movies are not getting greenlit as much as they used to be because studios can’t afford them. Or they can only afford to take the risk on certain blue chip stocks, so it doesn’t allow new IP to get launched. It doesn’t allow new filmmakers to come into those genres.

I’d like to see the cost of VFX artists come down. VFX artists get scared and say, “Oh, I’m going to be out of a job.” I’m like, “No, the way you’re going to be out of a job is if trends continue and we just don’t make these kinds of movies anymore.” If you develop these tools or learn these tools, then your throughpoint will be quicker and that will bring the cost of productions down, and studios will be encouraged to make more and more of these types of films. To me, that’s a virtuous cycle that we need to manifest. We need to make that happen or I think theatrical might never return.

AP: I do sometimes feel watching movies like “Lawrence of Arabia” or “Titanic” that these are monuments of a bygone era.

CAMERON: I would love to think that we’ve been building a new monument for the last three or four years. And I think there will always be a market for the new monument builds. The streamers kind of cannibalized the theatrical market with the promise of a lot of money to attract top filmmakers and top casts, and then that money has all retrenched back. The budgets aren’t there. Everything is starting to look like it’s driving toward a mediocrity. Everything starts to look to me like a typical network procedural, or at least that could be an end point within just a couple years.

Unfortunately, the economics of streaming expanded rapidly and then contracted rapidly. Now, we’re betwixt and between models. It’s cannibalized theatrical and, at the same time, it’s not delivering the budgets to do the kind of imaginative, phantasmagorical filmmaking.

AP: “Avatar” has basically unfolded as a family saga. It seems like in these films, what you’re most interested is spirituality and human connection.

CAMERON: The “Avatar” films, and certainly the new one “Fire and Ash,” do exactly the same thing. In a way, they cast us in a good light. The humans in the story are the bad guys. But really what it’s saying is that the attributes we value — our interpersonal and intercommunity connections, our spirituality, our empathy — in the movies they reside in the Na’vi. But of course we as the audience take the Na’vi’s side. So they seem a kind of aspirational, better version of us. In a sense, it’s still empowering and reinforcing certain values and ethics and morals.

Now, it’s a little more challenging in movie three because we show Na’vi who have kind of fallen from grace and are adversarial with other Na’vi. I think one of the reasons “Avatar” has been successful in all markets around the world is because everybody is in a family or wishes they were in a family. They have their ties. They have their tribes. They have their connections. And that’s what these films are about. What would you risk everything for?

AP: Does that apply to “Ghosts of Hiroshima” as well? You’ve spoken about it like a tragedy of disconnection.

CAMERON: “Ghosts of Hiroshima” is about testing our empathy boundaries. Somebody needed to be empathetic to the fact that a nuclear weapon was going to be used against human beings. And I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole of should the bombs have been dropped, who was right, who was wrong. But I do want to remind people of what these weapons are capable of doing against targets. It’s unfathomable.

There were three bombs in 1945. One was used as a test and two against people. There are now 12,000 and they range in power from 100 to over 200 times the energy that was generated at either one of those two bombings. We’re in a very precarious world right now. And because of all the geopolitical challenges internationally — more nuclear powers, more saber rattling, unaccountable leadership in #Russia and #America right now — I think we’re in as precarious a situation as we were in the Cuban missile crisis era.

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press