Avatar (2009 film) before it can reach the Tree of Souls; Quaritch, wearing an AMP suit, escapes from his own damaged aircraft and breaks open the avatar link unit containing Jake's human body, exposing it to Pandora's poisonous atmosphere. Quaritch prepares to slit the throat of Jake's avatar, but Neytiri kills Quaritch and saves Jake from suffocation. With the exceptions of Jake, Norm and a select few others, all humans are expelled from Pandora and sent back to Earth, after which Jake is permanently transferred into his avatar with the aid of the Tree of Souls. In 1994, director James Cameron wrote an
Avatar (2009 film) universe in early 2006. "Avatar" was officially budgeted at $237 million. Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production and at $150 million for promotion. The film made extensive use of new motion capture filming techniques, and was released for traditional viewing, 3D viewing (using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats), and for "4D" experiences in select South Korean theaters. The stereoscopic filmmaking was touted as a breakthrough in cinematic technology. "Avatar" premiered in London on , 2009, and was internationally released on and in the United States and Canada