AceShowbiz - James Cameron had to fight to keep the three-hour run time for his movie "Avatar: The Way of Water". The moviemaker has now admitted there was "tension" with the studio over the film's length after a sequel to his 2009 film "Avatar" finally hit cinemas this month with a whopping three hours and 12 minutes duration.

He told Entertainment Weekly, "I think there was a lot of tension around length. And because it's a complicated linear narrative, which is the worst scenario for trying to shorten, you've got a complex story servicing a lot of characters, and it's like dominos falling: This has to happen for that to happen. You're not following a bunch of parallel plot lines in a way that you could take a lot out."

Cameron went on to insist it would have been very difficult to edit the film down. He added, "The hardest thing when you're trying to shorten a film is to hold onto the things that don't advance the plot, that are beautiful or scary or suspenseful for their own sake. Things came out, and then if I felt the pacing was off, we put things back in."

The director insisted the length shouldn't matter as long as the audience is enjoying the film, saying, "Equally important with length is pace - and the order of information and the engagement factor. As long as people are engaged, you’re good to go."

During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cameron was asked when audience members should take a bathroom break during the three-hour epic and he replied, "Anytime they want." Cameron added, "They can see the scene they missed when they come to see it again."