Lightstorm Entertainment
American film and television production company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lightstorm Entertainment, Inc.[1] is an American independent film and television production company founded by filmmaker James Cameron[2][3] and producer Lawrence Kasanoff in 1990. The company's films include the sci-fi film Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), the action-comedy film True Lies (1994), the romantic film Titanic (1997), the epic science fiction film series Avatar, and the sci-fi film Alita: Battle Angel (2019); Cameron has employed other filmmakers to produce and direct films under the Lightstorm banner. Based in Santa Monica, California, the company established a first look deal with 20th Century Fox (currently known as 20th Century Studios) in 1995,[4] who has since distributed a majority of the company's films.[5][6]
Logo used since 1994 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film Television |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder | James Cameron Lawrence Kasanoff |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Products | |
| Owner | James Cameron |
| Divisions |
|
| Subsidiaries | Earthship Productions |
In 1993, Cameron would meet his future Titanic and Avatar co-producer Jon Landau during the production of True Lies, and would persuade Landau to join the company.[7] The company's logo depicts a bowman using a lightning bolt as an arrow.
In January 2015, Lightstorm Entertainment had brought the motion-capture technology assets of Atlanta-based Giant Studios who had handled motion-capture services on Lightstorm's successful film Avatar. This allowed Lightstorm Entertainment its own motion-capture technology production service and had allowed Lightstorm to develop motion-capture production technology in-house for its future films whilst Giant's research and development team continued to develop the motion-capture technology under Lightstorm.[8]
In December 2024, Lightstorm Entertainment announced its entry into the virtual reality business with the establishment of its virtual reality technology 3D entertainment division called Lightstorm Vision to expand Lightstorm's technology production tools in entertainment experiences and had collaborated with multinational technology company Meta Platforms via a multi-year collaboration for Lightstorm's 3D productions. Lightstorm Vision will use Meta Quest as its exclusive MR hardware platform service for Lightstorm's films including Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) and the upcoming Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) (2026).[9][10]
Filmography
Feature films
Released
| Title | Release date | Director | Writer(s) | Distributor | Co-production companies | Budget | Worldwide gross | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminator 2: Judgment Day | July 3, 1991 | James Cameron | James Cameron William Wisher |
TriStar Pictures | Carolco Pictures Pacific Western Productions |
$94–102 million | $520.8 million | [11] |
| The Abyss: Special Edition | February 26, 1993 | James Cameron | 20th Century Fox | Pacific Western Productions | $43–47 million | $89.8 million | [12] | |
| True Lies | July 15, 1994 | screenplay by: James Cameron story by: Randall Frakes James Cameron |
20th Century Fox (United States, Canada, France, and Italy) Universal Pictures (International) |
N/A | $100–120 million | $378.9 million | [13] | |
| Strange Days | October 6, 1995 | Kathryn Bigelow | screenplay by: James Cameron Jay Cocks story by: James Cameron |
$42 million | $8 million | [14] | ||
| Titanic | December 19, 1997 | James Cameron | Paramount Pictures (United States and Canada) 20th Century Fox (International) |
$200 million | $2.256 billion | [15] | ||
| Solaris | November 29, 2002 | Steven Soderbergh | screenplay by: Steven Soderbergh based on Solaris by: Stainslaw Lem |
20th Century Fox | $47 million | $30 million | [16] | |
| Avatar | December 18, 2009 | James Cameron | Dune Entertainment Ingenious Film Partners |
$237 million | $2.923 billion | [17] | ||
| Alita: Battle Angel | February 14, 2019 | Robert Rodriguez | screenplay by: James Cameron Laeta Kalogridis based on the manga Gunnm by: Yukito Kishiro |
Troublemaker Studios | $170 million | $404.9 million | [18] | |
| Terminator: Dark Fate | November 1, 2019 | Tim Miller | screenplay by: David S. Goyer Justin Rhodes Billy Ray story by: James Cameron Charles H. Eglee Josh Friedman David S. Goyer Justin Rhodes based on characters created by: James Cameron Gale Anne Hurd |
Paramount Pictures (United States and Canada) 20th Century Fox (International) |
20th Century Fox Skydance Media Tencent Pictures |
$185–196 million | $261.1 million | [19] |
| Avatar: The Way of Water | December 16, 2022 | James Cameron | screenplay by: James Cameron Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver story by: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno based on characters created by: James Cameron |
20th Century Studios | N/A | $350 million[20] | $2.320 billion[21][22] | [23] |
| Avatar: Fire and Ash | December 19, 2025 | screenplay by: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver story by: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno based on characters created by: James Cameron |
N/A | $350–400 million | $1.474 billion | [23] | ||
Upcoming
| Title | Release date | Director | Writer(s) | Distributor | Co-production companies | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) | May 8, 2026 | N/a | Paramount Pictures | Interscope Films and Darkroom Records | [24][25] | |
| Avatar 4 | December 21, 2029 | James Cameron | screenplay by: James Cameron Josh Friedman story by: James Cameron Josh Friedman Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver and Shane Salerno based on characters created by: James Cameron |
20th Century Studios | N/A | [23] |
| Avatar 5 | December 19, 2031 | screenplay by: James Cameron Shane Salerno story by: James Cameron Josh Friedman Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver Shane Salerno based on characters created by: James Cameron | ||||
| Painter | TBA | Garrett Warren | screenplay by Derek Kolstad |
Infrared Pictures and Circle M + P | [26][27][28] |
Television series
| Title | First air date | Last air date | Creator | Network | Co-production companies | Notes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| True Lies | March 1, 2023 | May 17, 2023 | Matt Nix | CBS | 20th Television Anthony Hemingway Productions Flying Glass of Milk Productions Wonderland Sound and Vision |
[29][30][31] | |
| Secrets of the Penguins | April 20, 2025 | April 21, 2025 | Bertie Gregory | National Geographic | National Geographic Studios Talesmith[32] |
under Lightstorm Earth | [33] |
| Fire and Water: Making The Avatar Films | November 7, 2025 | Thomas C. Grane | Disney+ | 20th Century Studios Mob Scene |
[34] | ||
