James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, has finally been released. However, it’s been reported that one viewer actually suffered a heart attack and died during a screening of Avatar 2.
As shared via Metro, a man named Lakshmireddy Srinu from the Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh went to see the movie with his younger brother. During the middle of their screening he collapsed and was reportedly taken to the Peddapuram Government Hospital.
At this point, Srinu was declared dead. But what caused the heart attack? Dr. Sanjeev Gera shared a few possibilities with the Hindustan Times. Here’s what he had to say:
“Because of stress, increase in blood pressure like what happened in this case, arteries of the heart could have ruptured and that can cause sudden cardiac arrest.”
Additionally, Dr. Pradeep Kumar D. added the following:
“This may be due to a plaque rupture in the coronaries or triggering of an arrhythmia due to excitement.
“These kinds of deaths do happen during exciting matches/emotional situations. The movie per se is unlikely to have caused the death.”
With that in mind, it was also reported that Srinu had a history of high blood pressure. Ultimately, it’s believed that the heart attack was likely caused by “over-excitement” from watching Avatar: The Way of Water.
This isn’t the first time someone has died watching an Avatar movie, as a 42-year-old Taiwan man died while watching the first film in 2010. That man also had a history of high blood pressure and it was said that over-excitement triggered his symptoms as well.
Avatar 2 was directed by James Cameron. He wrote the screenplay alongside Josh Friedman. Cameron produced the film alongside Jon Landau. The cast for the film includes Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement and Kate Winslet.
Avatar: The Way of Water is currently playing in theaters. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the high-profile blockbuster and its run at the box office. With the potential success of the film, it’s expected that we’ll have several other Avatar sequels on the way.