The Na’vi are coming to Earth — the Happiest Place on Earth. Disney CEO Bob Iger announced during the company’s first-quarter earnings call Wednesday that an “exciting Avatar experience” will open at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, as the James Cameron franchise’s first theme park tie-in on the west coast. (In 2017, before the company acquired 20th Century Fox, Disney partnered with Cameron to bring Pandora — The World of Avatar to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida.) It’s unclear if the experience is a Pandora themed land, an Avatar attraction, or live entertainment, but Iger said Disney will share more details “very soon.”
Iger announced Disneyland’s Avatar experience after touting the box office success of Cameron’s nearly $2.2 billion earner Avatar: The Way of Water, which the recently-returned CEO hailed as “easily the most successful film of the quarter” after it surpassed Disney’s own Star Wars: The Force Awakens to become the fourth biggest film of all time globally.
“The global popularity of this film will result in the creation of more opportunities for fans to engage with the franchise,” said Iger, pointing to Disney World’s Avatar land and the original Avatar’s “very strong numbers” streaming on Disney+.
“We’re going to bring a version of Avatar to Disneyland,” Iger said later on the call. “We have other opportunities as well — and I’ve talked to Josh D’Amaro [Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products] about this very recently — to really look at all the great franchises the company has and see where we can invest them in the parks.”
This story is developing and will be updated.
