Press Release

Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil and Academy Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron announced a new partnership to develop an arena-touring show inspired by the world of Cameron’s history-making motion picture, AVATAR.   This “live experience” is expected to debut late 2015 for what will become a global touring schedule.

The announcement was made in Montreal during the international business C2MTL– Commerce + Creativity Conference.

The live production will feature the creative signature drive of Cirque du Soleil in association with Cameron’s and Jon Landau’s Lightstorm Entertainment. The show is expected to debut before the first of three upcoming AVATAR sequels, for which Cameron is currently in pre-production.  Twentieth Century Fox, which financed and distributed AVATAR, will bring the new films to theaters around the world and is also a partner on the live show.

“Our relationship with Jim Cameron began with my visit at his Avatar cutting room”, explained Daniel Lamarre.  “I am thrilled that almost 5 years later, Cirque du Soleil will be able to explore the very inspirational AVATAR realm for the live stage.   This will mark our second creative project with Jim and I believe it will be as stimulating for both our creative forces.”

“Over the years, I have discovered the extraordinary talents and imaginations of both the artists and the creative forces behind Cirque du Soleil,” said James Cameron. “I know we share the common goal of bringing audiences to another level of entertainment experiences.  I look forward to doing just that on this project.”

“Audiences around the globe have embraced AVATAR and we believe they will want to experience this amazing world in an entirely new way," commented Kathy Franklin, President of Franchise Development at Lightstorm Entertainment.

“Avatar remains a phenomenon that continues to inspire people around the globe, and combining it with the live event ingenuity of Cirque du Soleil is a perfect synthesis of imagination and talent,” said Jim Gianopulos, Chairman and CEO, 20th Century Fox. “As Jim Cameron prepares to take us to even greater heights with three new AVATAR films, we're thrilled with the innovative experience he's developing in this groundbreaking agreement with Cirque de Soleil."

Creative forces from Cirque du Soleil and Lightstorm Entertainment will meet and put in place a dedicated creative team, which will be announced at a later date. 

About Cirque du Soleil
From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a major Quebec-based organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has close to 4,000 employees, including 1,300 performing artists from close to 50 different countries.
 
Cirque du Soleil who celebrates its 30th anniversary this year has brought wonder and delight to close to 150 million spectators in more than 300 cities in over forty countries on six continents. 

For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com.
To find out more about the ONE DROP Foundation, visit www.onedrop.org.

About 20th Century Fox
One of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, 20th Century Fox Film produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world.  These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of 20th Century Fox Film:  20th Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox International Productions, 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios.

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MEDIA CONTACTS

Cirque du Soleil
Renée-Claude Ménard - rcm@cirquedusoleil.com

20th Century Fox
Chris Petrikin - chris.petrikin@fox.com

C2MTL
Marie-Ève Boisvert - meboisvert@c2mtl.com