Lightstorm Entertainment

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-drama film Titanic (1997), the Avatar film series, 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]

Lightstorm Entertainment, Inc.

Logo used since 1994
Company type	Private
Industry	Film Television
Founded	1990; 35 years ago (1990)
Founder	James Cameron Lawrence Kasanoff
Headquarters	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Products	Terminator 2: Judgment Day True Lies Titanic Avatar film series
Owner	James Cameron
Divisions	Lightstorm Earth Lightstorm Vision
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, the acquisition of motion-capture technology assets of Atlanta-based Giant Studios had gained 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 & development team continued to develop the motion-capture technology under Lightstorm.^[8]

In December 2024, Lightstorm Entertainment announced its entry into the virual 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 mulitnational technology company Meta Platforms via a multi-year partnership for Lightstorm's 3D productions with Lightstorm Vision will use Meta Quest as its exclusive MR hardware platform service for Lightstorm's upcoming films including Avatar: Fire and Ash.^[9]

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	[10]
The Abyss: Special Edition	February 26, 1993		James Cameron	20th Century Fox	Pacific Western Productions	$43–47 million	$89.8 million	[11]
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	[12]
Strange Days	October 6, 1995	Kathryn Bigelow	screenplay by: James Cameron Jay Cocks story by: James Cameron			$42 million	$8 million	[13]
Titanic	December 19, 1997	James Cameron		Paramount Pictures (United States and Canada) 20th Century Fox (International)		$200 million	$2.256 billion	[14]
Solaris	November 29, 2002	Steven Soderbergh	screenplay by: Steven Soderbergh based on Solaris by: Stainslaw Lem	20th Century Fox		$47 million	$30 million	[15]
Avatar	December 18, 2009	James Cameron			Dune Entertainment Ingenious Film Partners	$237 million	$2.923 billion	[16]
Alita: Battle Angel	February 14, 2019	Robert Rodriguez	screenplay by: James Cameron Laeta Kalogridis based on the manga Gunnm by: Yukito Kishiro		Troublemaker Studios TSG Entertainment	$170 million	$404.9 million	[17]
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 (through Buena Vista International, international)	20th Century Fox Skydance Media Tencent Pictures TSG Entertainment	$185–196 million	$261.1 million	[18]
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	TSG Entertainment	$350 million[19]	$2.320 billion[20][21]	[22]

Upcoming

Title	Release date	Director	Writer(s)	Distributor	Co-production companies	References
Avatar: Fire and Ash	December 19, 2025	James Cameron	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	20th Century Studios	TSG Entertainment	[22]
Avatar 4	December 21, 2029		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		TBA
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

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		[23][24][25]
Secrets of the Penguins	April 20, 2025	April 21, 2025	Bertie Gregory	National Geographic	National Geographic Studios Talesmith[26]	under Lightstorm Earth	[27]
Fire and Water: Making The Avatar Films	November 7, 2025		Thomas C. Grane	Disney+	20th Century Studios Mob Scene		[28]