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Maybe you’ve noticed the blue lights illuminating the Morrison Bridge for the past few nights. Turns out, they’re not a protest against the proliferation of the colors red and green over the holiday season; they’re a promotional display, courtesy of Disney’s 20th Century Studios, to hype the release of Avatar: The Way of Water, which opens in Portland theaters tomorrow night.
A press release from the agency Allied Global Marketing clarified the thought behind temporarily turning the bridge blue (the lights will remain through Saturday, Dec. 17).
“Avatar: The Way of Water explores the themes of sustainability and water as a uniting force,” stated Allied. “Portland’s 12 bridges span the Willamette River and connect the two sides of the city. Each bridge, including the centrally located Morrison Bridge, are vital to Portland’s way of life. Therefore, the Morrison Bridge takeover makes perfect sense to celebrate the end of a 13-year-long hiatus between the sequel and the groundbreaking original film.”
The Way of Water is the second installment in director James Cameron’s Avatar series. The first film, which won three Oscars and became the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, was about a paraplegic marine (Sam Worthington) who finds new life (and love) on a distant alien moon known as Pandora.
The pressure is on for Cameron to match the success of the original, especially since he has several more Avatar films in the works. But early box office projections and reviews suggest he has another hit on his hands (spoiler alert: I’ve seen The Way of Water and it’s great).