Avatar director James Cameron has said that watching the 2009 film at home, via streaming or Blu-ray, doesn’t really count as having seen the film. It needs to be seen in a theater, Cameron said in an interview with The New York Times.
“Young film fans never had the opportunity to see it in a movie theater. Even though they think they may have seen the film, they really haven’t seen it,” he said. Avatar is being re-released in theaters this Friday, September 23, in a remastered state. Cameron said he was “pleasantly surprised” by how well the film holds up and “how gorgeous it is in its remastered state.”
Avatar was available via streaming on Disney Plus until Disney removed it without any warning this year, presumably in a bid to encourage people to see Avatar’s re-release in theaters.