Disney Parks reports that at a press conference at Walt Disney Imagineering, Bob Iger and Tom Staggs just announced a long-term creative partnership with James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment and Fox Filmed Entertainment which will include bringing attractions based on the popular film Avatar to the Walt Disney theme parks. The first of these will open at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
Disney says that “James and his producing partner Jon Landau and their team at Lightstorm Entertainment will serve as creative consultants on the project and will work side-by-side with our Walt Disney Imagineers as we dream up experiences that will take our guests deep into worlds of Avatar like never before. There are also two sequels to the record setting first film in the works, which will offer more fascinating stories, characters and locations to explore in the Avatar universe”.
This marks the latest in a long line of partnerships with external companies to produce popular theme park attractions at the Disney theme parks. In 1987, Disney teamed up with Industrial Light and Magic and LucasFilm to make the wonderful Star Tours attraction that took guests on a journey through the Star Wars universe. Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida has recently opened its doors on a renovated version of the ride, incorporation the latest technology and elements from the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Similarly, Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye opened at Disneyland in 1995, and remains one of the most popular attractions in the park.
Construction is expected to begin in 2013.
