James Cameron knows how to get a story in motion. Jake Sully, a paraplegic Marine, is assigned his late twin brother’s avatar. Though it’s not his body, the avatar gives him an opportunity to walk again. In Avatar‘s screenplay (available for download here), the inciting incident, Jake meeting his avatar, happens on page twelve. In the film, it comes across the screen at minute eight. There was much more to the beginning of the film in the original treatment (available for download here). In the end, Cameron knew what to leave out: [Read more…]