ILM Turned Down Avatar & Lost Big!

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One of the most renowned films ever made, Avatar, has been an unprecedented success. However, a fresh documentary sheds light on the reasons behind George Lucas‘s firm, Industrial Light & Magic, choosing not to be involved in the project.

George Lucas founded Industrial Light & Magic, a special effects studio, with the purpose of bringing the initial Star Wars film into reality.

For over four decades, ILM has been a part of creating some of the most breathtaking films from the last fifty years, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Twister, Men in Black, Titanic, Pirates of the Caribbean, and numerous Marvel productions.

Over the coming weeks, several movies showcasing ILM’s work will be released, such as Thunderbolts, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Jurassic World: Dominion, Superman, and Fantastic Four: Rise and Shine. However, they declined one high-profile production that turned out to be a financially disappointing decision.

*Note: The title of the movie in the original sentence is Thunderbolts, but I couldn’t find any confirmed release or production information for

ILM feared Avatar effects would be “unachievable”

2006 saw Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) competing to design visual effects for the movie Avatar. They even made a test clip, where Yunjin Kim portrayed Neytiri and Daniel Bess acted as Jake Sully. This short scene eventually became recognized as the ILM Prototype.

However, it was Weta Digital who eventually secured the job, and in Episode 3 of Season 2 of Light & Magic, ILM’s General Manager, Janey Lewin, discusses why they decided to forgo the project instead.

According to Lewin, in the past we’ve taken a more cautious approach. For instance, we declined Avatar after several months of negotiations and preliminary work, and a test that would have given it the go-ahead. Our previous leadership hesitated to make that decision when presented with the challenge – “This might be too big, too challenging” – as they weren’t ready to shoulder the potential risk.

However, Lewin shares that instead of the chosen project, they decided to collaborate with Gore Verbinski who presented an extraordinary concept – Rango.

The movie earned an impressive sum of $246 million, but that’s just a fraction of what Avatar brought in, a massive $2.9 billion! With its production cost being only $135 million, compared to Avatar’s $237 million budget, it’s clear that Avatar remains the most financially successful film ever made.

1. Check out the list of the top 50 highest-earning films, or

2. Click on this link for the most successful movies of 2025 thus far.

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2025-04-22 17:59