Director James Cameron (center) attends a pre-screening event for the Chinese premiere of Avatar 3 at the 7th Hainan Island International Film Festival in Sanya, Hainan Province on December 8, 2025. Photo: Chen Xi/GT

The Chinese premiere of the much-anticipated sci-fi epic Avatar 3 was held as a special event of the 7th Hainan Island International Film Festival on Monday afternoon. Director James Cameron, lead actress Zoe Saldaña and Chinese dubbing stars including Zhang Ziyi, Huang Xuan, Deng Chao and Sun Li graced the occasion, engaging audiences in a pre-screening dialogue.

The film is scheduled for simultaneous release in the Chinese mainland and North America on December 19. As the latest installment in the highest-grossing film series of all time, it boasts a runtime of 195 minutes, making it the longest one in the franchise to date, according to IMAX's official website.

Cameron engaged in a warm exchange with the Chinese audience at the pre-screening forum. When Chinese actor Huang Xuan asked about the source of his boundless imagination, Cameron attributed it to a combination of his "crazy dreams" and immense collaboration with others. 

"My dreams may be the seed, but what grows from that is a lot of human effort and human imagination brought to it," Cameron said, adding that over 3,000 artists worked on the project, which began eight years ago.

The director expressed profound gratitude for Chinese moviegoers' sustained support. 

"The fans of Avatar in China have been phenomenally supportive and passionate," he said. Cameron noted the first film's role in expanding China's IMAX screen count and popularizing premium 3D cinema experiences, which he said "opened the floodgates" for fantasy and sci-fi filmmaking in China. 

He also mentioned a meeting with The Wandering Earth director Guo Fan earlier in the day to discuss technology for the upcoming third installment of that series, underscoring the vibrant exchanges within the industry.

Reflecting on production, Cameron shared that the very first shot of the original Avatar was of Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) about to shoot Jake Sully, the moment when their love story began.

Saldaña, in turn, shared heartfelt memories of the collaborative and safe creative environment Cameron fosters. 

"I treasure every moment that I feel completely safe in the playground that Jim [Cameron] builds for us to play on," she said, describing the deep bond formed with co-star Sam Worthington, who plays Jake Sully in the film.

Media reported that Avatar 3 shifts focus to a previously unknown Na'vi clan on Pandora, the "Ash People." Cameron revealed that this clan, characterized by anger and aggression, would subvert the simplistic dichotomy of "humans as evil, Na'vi as good" established in previous films.

Following the premiere, initial audience reactions have begun to emerge, with many audience members highly praising the film.

Gao Mingyang, a moviegoer from Beijing, told the Global Times that the reason the Avatar series remains so popular both in China and across the world lies largely in the universal values it conveys. She said that while she watched Avatar, she felt a strong emotional connection "to our beautiful home - the Earth - as humans."

On IMDB, some praised the new film as "a visual feast on an unimaginable scale," while others found the plot somewhat familiar and lengthy. 

Cameron once emphasized in a previous interview that not a single frame was created by AI, highlighting the film's reliance on human creativity, according to Variety.

The Avatar saga continues beyond the third chapter, with Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 previously slated for North American releases in December 2029 and December 2031, respectively.