Billie Eilish and James Cameron bring sold-out world tour to the big screen in 3D

LONDON, UK — It started with an email.

James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director behind “Titanic” and “Avatar,” reached out to Billie Eilish’s mother with a simple but ambitious proposition: let him make a concert film — in 3D. What followed was an unlikely creative partnership that yielded one of the most anticipated music films of the year.

“Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)” opens in theaters Friday, offering fans who missed the singer’s sold-out world tour a chance to experience it as though they were standing in the crowd.

Eilish’s initial answer to Cameron’s pitch was immediate and unequivocal. “Obviously a resounding yes. Duh!” she said.

But getting there took some negotiating. When Cameron first proposed placing a camera on the stage itself, Eilish pushed back hard.

“Absolutely no,” she told him. “I don’t want to change the show.”

It took Cameron six months to bring her around — specifically by making the case that intimacy translates with unique power in 3D. “Once we started talking about that, it was so clear that it was too important,” Eilish said.

The two ultimately co-directed the project together, filming four concerts in Manchester, England, using 17 cameras. The finished film blends the full spectacle of a live performance with behind-the-scenes access, following Eilish beneath the stage, through corridors and out to the B stage in real time.

“I just love the idea of people who didn’t get to see the show getting to experience it like they were there,” Eilish said.

For Cameron, the project transcended the typical concert film formula. “It’s not just rah rah I’m with my favorite pop star,” he said. “It’s an emotional connection and it’s real.”

The collaboration brought together two of the music and film industries’ most decorated artists. Eilish, 23, has won nine Grammy Awards. Cameron has won three Academy Awards and directed two of the highest-grossing films in cinema history.

Eilish said she hopes the work she and Cameron — whom she calls “Jim” — put into shaping the film comes through for audiences. “I hope the experience that I had creating that show, filming it and then editing with Jim comes through,” she said, “and I hope you enjoy it.”

The film promises both the energy of a front-row seat and the emotional intimacy that only a camera can capture — a combination Cameron said makes it “the best of being at the show.”

“Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)” opens in theaters Friday.