-My next guest is an Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning director.
He's also produced a new National Geographic special
called "Secrets of the Whales,"
which premieres tomorrow on Disney+.
Here is James Cameron!
Yeah! Hey, that's what I'm talking about.
-Hey. -It is so good to see you,
buddy. Welcome back to "The Tonight Show."
And thank you for coming on.
-It's so great to be sort of on the show virtually.
-[ Laughs ] Yeah, I know. Exactly, right?
You must be living in kind of a virtual life now
with the "Avatar 2" and "3," right? Everything's virtual.
-Yeah, you're actually visiting me in my cutting room right now.
I'm down here in Wellington, New Zealand.
-You're in the bunker there working on "Avatar 2" and "3."
I can't wait. You know I'm fan of yours.
And "Avatar" was unlike anything
I've ever experienced in the movies.
I loved it so much.
And how do you top "Avatar" with "2" and "3"?
-I cry.
I just sit here at my desk. -[ Laughs ] Yes.
-And I cry all day long, because there's no way.
-Yeah, of course.
-And it's just too much pressure, dude, you know?
No, look, we just try to be kind of true
to what people loved about the first film
and take it into, you know, whole new areas,
like a lot of our scenes are in the ocean.
-Oh, really? -And so I'm combining things
I love, like making "Avatar" and going into the ocean.
I love all that stuff.
-I was just reading something where it said
that "Avatar" is the highest grossing film of all time,
and then it got beat out by "Avengers,"
and that was the #1 highest grossing,
but then "Avatar" became again the highest grossing film.
Do you care about that stuff, or you don't care?
-Well, look, I mean, everybody makes a big deal out of it,
but the truth is
what we really need to focus on is getting back to theaters.
And, you know, hopefully, we can still have films like that,
like "Endgame" and "Avatar," the big Marvel movies and all that
that are able to make, you know, $1 billion or $2 billion.
Let's pray that the theaters are there after this pandemic
and after this shift toward streaming --
not that I have anything against streaming.
There's great writing, great shows.
But let's remember that the movie theater
is kind of a sacred experience for all of us.
And let's get back out there when it's safe to do so.
-Yeah, let's get to -- I agree. [ Cheers and applause ]
I think people will go.
So, now this project that you're working on,
"The Secrets of the Whales." -Mm-hmm.
-You get so up-close and personal with --
It's the most beautiful shots.
I mean, obviously, if anyone ever saw a whale ever, it is --
You talk about it for months, I mean, maybe years.
You go, "I saw a whale!" And --
No, you've never seen a whale like this.
This is unbelievable. -Yeah.
-What is the feeling you want people to get from this special?
-Yeah, just want to -- Full disclosure,
I wasn't in the water with the whales on this show.
I've done that other times.
-Right. -But we had Brian Skerry
and some of the top, you know, underwater photographers
at National Geographic.
And I'm an explorer in residence there,
which is kind of an oxymoron. But I know all those guys.
So we cooked this thing up about three years ago.
It's taken three years to shoot, 24 locations around the world.
The idea was what are we going to show about whales
that hasn't been seen and that hasn't been known?
So the goal was find out new things, see new things,
also do amazingly beautiful photography.
But we found out that they -- They have culture.
They have emotion. They grieve.
They have joy. They play.
They have complex language. They have music.
They have family bonds. They teach each other.
They have taught culture that's handed down.
And they're very, very complex and amazing animals.
They're not just big and beautiful and kind of,
you know, mysterious and awe-inspiring.
They're people. They're basically people.
I think, if anybody should get a takeaway from this show,
it's that whales are people just like us.
And they're trying to survive out there.
They're trying to keep their families fed and healthy,
and hopefully, the show can create some kind of a bond,
a compassionate bond with them.
-Yeah. -'Cause we have to protect them.
We have to help them survive.
-Yeah. Good for you. I agree.
I want to show everyone a clip. Here's a very unique moment
captured in "Secrets of the Whales." Take a look.
-This one female adult orca came in
and, you know, was sort of checking me out.
♪♪
It was kind of looking at me, checking out the ray.
It was kind of like, you know, "Are you going to have that?
'Cause if not, I'm going to go grab it."
♪♪
And then just sort of picks it up and almost poses, man.
She just kind of lifts her head up.
It was really remarkable.
-Yeah. That's amazing. [ Cheers and applause ]
-Isn't that cool? -That is really cool.
-So, this mother orca says, "You look skinny.
You should eat. Here, have something."
-Yeah, yeah. "Eat, eat!" Yeah, of course, exactly.
-"You're not going to eat that? Alright, I'm taking it back."
-James Cameron, everybody.