'Avatar' director Cameron gets Hollywood star

(AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS)

Canadian filmmaker James Cameron received Friday a star on Hollywood's "Walk of Fame," on the release day of his critically acclaimed new blockbuster "Avatar.

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A smiling Cameron was applauded by 200 supporters and onlookers on Hollywood Boulevard as he accepted the honor flanked by California governor and former movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger and actress Sigourney Weaver, whom he directed in "Avatar."

Cameron said the honor was "an amazing feeling.

"The placement is especially cool - right in front of the prestigious Egyptian Theatre, right next to Sylvester Stallone, my co-writer on 'Rambo: First Blood Part 2.'

We're together again - apparently for all eternity now," he said.

The star was laid just hours after his new fantasy spectacular "Avatar" opened in North America, already raising some 3.5 million dollars in ticket receipts in the United States alone, according to industry magazine Variety.

Packed with computer-generated imagery and 3D effects, the film is the first feature from 55-year-old Cameron since 1997's "Titanic," which scooped 11 Oscars, including Best Picture, and became the first movie to earn more than one billion dollars worldwide.

Cameron's new movie is set in the 22nd century on a distant planet called Pandora. In the heart of an immense tropical forest, strife erupts between an indigenous tribe and an Earth-based consortium pillaging for a precious mineral.

He thanked several "Avatar" cast members who attended the ceremony.

"Whatever 'Avatar' becomes, however well it does, whatever accolades it receives, the face of 'Avatar' is these people right here. Most actors work on a film for months at the most. Some of our team worked on the film for almost a year and a half," he said.

"When you work in a room with people for 18 months, you're either going to come out the worst of enemies or the best of friends. We actually became a kind of family and we all still love each other."

Cameron directed Schwarzenegger in the first two "Terminator" movies (1984 and 1991) and in 1994's "True Lies." He previously worked with Weaver in the 1986 science fiction classic "Aliens."

Over 2,380 stars have been laid in the pavement of Hollywood Boulevard to honor the greatest stars of the film, television and music industry.