Jump to content

Avatar: The Way of Water

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by MCMan3210 (talk | contribs) at 12:07, 16 December 2022 (Minor typo). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Avatar: The Way of Water
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJames Cameron
Screenplay by
Story by
Based onCharacters
by James Cameron
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRussell Carpenter
Edited by
Music bySimon Franglen
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • December 6, 2022 (2022-12-06) (London)
  • December 15, 2022 (2022-12-15) (UAE)
  • December 16, 2022 (2022-12-16) (United States, India)
Running time
192 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$350–400 million[2]
Box office$15.8 million[3]

Avatar: The Way of Water is a 2022 American epic science fiction action film and the sequel to the 2009 film Avatar, both directed by James Cameron. It is distributed by 20th Century Studios as the second film in the Avatar series. Cameron produced it with Jon Landau and wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, based on a story the three wrote with Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno. Cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, and Matt Gerald reprise their roles from the original film, with Sigourney Weaver returning in a different role.[4] New cast members include Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco and Jemaine Clement.

Cameron stated in 2006 that he would like to make sequels to Avatar if it was successful, and announced the first two sequels in 2010, following the widespread success of the first film, with The Way of Water aiming for a 2014 release.[5][6] However, the addition of three more sequels, for a total of five Avatar films, and the necessity to develop new technology in order to film performance capture scenes underwater, a feat never accomplished before, led to significant delays to allow the crew more time to work on the writing, preproduction, and visual effects.[7] Preliminary shooting started in Manhattan Beach, California, on August 15, 2017, followed by principal photography simultaneously with Avatar 3 in Wellington on September 25, 2017. Filming concluded in late September 2020 after three years of shooting. With an estimated budget of $350–400 million, it is one of the most expensive films of all time.[2]

The theatrical release was subject to repeated delays with the latest occurring on July 23, 2020.[8] Avatar: The Way of Water premiered in London on December 6, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 16, 2022. Three more sequels are scheduled for 2024, 2026 and 2028,[9][10] though this depends on the success of The Way of Water.[11]

Avatar: The Way Of Water received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the groundbreaking visual effects, technical ambition, Cameron’s direction and worldbuilding, cinematography, and score, although some criticized its story and stilted dialogue. Organizations such as the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named Avatar: The Way of Water as one of the top ten films of 2022, and it received nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director at the 80th Golden Globe Awards.

Plot

More than a decade after the events of the first film, Jake Sully lives as chief of the Omaticaya and raises a family with Neytiri, which includes his sons Neteyam and Lo'ak and his daughter Tuk, his adopted daughter Kiri (born from Grace Augustine's inert Na'vi avatar), and a human boy named Spider, the son of Colonel Miles Quaritch who was born on Pandora and was unable to be transported to Earth in cryostasis. To the Na'vi's dismay, humans return to Pandora to colonize it, erecting a new main operating base named Bridgehead City. Among the new arrivals is Quaritch, cloned into a Na'vi body and uploaded with his template's memories from before his death.

Jake initiates a guerilla campaign against the RDA supply lines. Leading a group of other marines resurrected as Na'vi avatars called "recombinants", Quaritch conducts a counter-insurgency mission against Jake and captures Jake's children. Jake and Neytiri arrive and free most of them, but Spider is taken by Quaritch, who recognizes him as his son. He decides to spend time with him in order to draw Spider on his side, and in turn Spider teaches Quaritch about Na'vi culture. Aware of the danger Spider's knowledge of his whereabouts poses to their safety, Jake and his family banish themselves from the Omaticaya and retreat to the Metkayina reef people clan at Pandora's eastern seaboard, where they are given shelter, even though some tribesmen deride Jake and his children for their genetic human heritage. The family learns the ways of the reef people, Kiri develops a spiritual bond with the sea and its creatures, and Lo'ak befriends Tsireya, the daughter of clan chief Tonowari and his wife Ronal.

Lo'ak gets into a fight with Tsireya's brother Aonung. When he returns to apologize at Jake's insistence, Aonung and his friends entice him to a trip into the territory of a dangerous sea predator and leave him stranded. Lo'ak is saved by and befriends Payakan, a tulkun, an intelligent and pacifistic cetacean species whom the Metkayina consider their spiritual family. Upon his return, Lo'ak takes the blame on himself, winning Aonung's friendship, but is told that Payakan is an outcast among his species. On a trip to the Metkayina's Tree of Souls, Kiri links with it to meet her mother, but suffers a violent seizure. She is healed by Ronal, but when Jake calls Norm Spellman and Max Patel for help, Quaritch is able to track them to the archipelago where the reef people live. Bringing Spider with him, he commandeers a whaling vessel which is hunting tulkuns to harvest their brain enzymes for creating anti-aging remedies. Quaritch begins to brutally question the indigenous tribes about Jake's location; failing that, he orders the whaling crew to wantonly kill the tulkuns in order to draw Jake out. Lo'ak mentally links with Payakan and learns that the tulkun was cast out because he went against the ways of his species and attacked the whalers who killed his mother.

When the Metkayina learn of the tulkun slaughters, Lo'ak takes off to warn Payakan, followed by his siblings, Tsireya and Aonung. They find Payakan being chased by the whalers, and Lo'ak, Tsireya and Tuk are captured by Quaritch. With their children in danger, Jake, Neytiri and the Metkayina set out to confront the humans. Quaritch forces Jake to surrender; but seeing his soul brother imperiled, Payakan attacks the whalers, triggering a fight which kills most of the crew and critically damages the vessel, causing it to sink. Neteyam rescues Lo'ak, Tsireya and Spider, but is fatally shot. Jake faces Quaritch, who uses Kiri as a hostage. When Neytiri does the same with Spider, Quaritch at first denies his son, but desists when Neytiri cuts Spider across the chest.

Jake, Quaritch, Neytiri and Tuk end up trapped inside the sinking vessel. Jake strangles Quaritch into unconsciousness and is rescued by Lo'ak and Payakan, and Kiri summons sea creatures to help her save Neytiri and Tuk. Spider finds and resuces Quaritch, but renounces him for his cruelty and rejoins Jake's family. After Neteyam's funeral, Jake informs Tonowari and Ronal of his decision to leave the Metkayina. Tonowari, however, respectfully identifies him as part of the clan and welcomes his family to stay. Jake and his family accept and forge a new life at the sea, with Jake vowing to keep fighting the human invaders.

Cast

Na'vi/Recombinants

  • Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, a former human who fell in love with Neytiri and befriended the Na'vi after becoming a member of the Avatar Program, eventually taking their side in their conflict with humans and leading them to victory. He left his human body to permanently become one of the Na'vi and is now chief of the Omaticaya.[12][13]
  • Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri, daughter of the previous clan chief, future Tsahìk of the clan, and Jake's mate[12][13]
  • Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, Jake and Neytiri's adopted teenage daughter.[14] Weaver originally appeared in the first film as Dr. Grace Augustine, a human who takes the side of the Na'vi and dies during the conflict. Although both Weaver and Cameron confirmed that she would return in the sequels, she stated in 2014 that she would not play the same character.[4][15][16] Like most of the cast, she learned free-diving for the film and filmed scenes underwater.[17]
  • Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch, a human who led the security forces of the RDA, the human organization colonizing Pandora, in their conflict with the Na'vi.[18] After being killed by Neytiri in the events of the first film, he has been resurrected by the RDA as a Recombinant, described as "avatars embedded with the memories of human[s]",[18] and seeks to finish what he started, including getting his revenge on Jake. Cameron stated in 2010 that Lang would return in the first three sequels, stating, "I'm not going to say exactly how we're bringing him back, but it's a science fiction story, after all. His character will evolve into really unexpected places across the arc of our new three-film saga."[19][20] He later stated that Quaritch would act as the main antagonist once again, in all four sequels.[21][22]
  • Kate Winslet as Ronal, a free diver of the Metkayina and Tonowari's wife.[23][24] Winslet called Ronal "a pivotal character in the ongoing story" but also "relatively small comparative to the lengthy shoot" since shooting all her scenes only took a month.[25] It marks her first time working with performance capture, and motion capture altogether. She, like most of the cast, also had to learn free diving for the film; while filming an underwater scene, she held her breath for over seven minutes, a new record for any film scene shot underwater.[25][26][27][17]
  • Cliff Curtis as Tonowari, the chief leader of the reef people clan of Metkayina and Ronal's husband.[28][29][30]
  • CCH Pounder as Mo'at, the Omaticaya's spiritual leader and Neytiri's mother.[31][32]
  • Jamie Flatters as Neteyam, Jake and Neytiri's first son and oldest child[33][34]
  • Britain Dalton as Lo'ak, Jake and Neytiri's second son[33][34]
    • Chloe Coleman as young Lo'ak
  • Trinity Jo-Li Bliss as Tuktirey ("Tuk"), Jake and Neytiri's eight-year-old daughter and their youngest child[33][34][35]
  • Bailey Bass as Tsireya ("Reya"), a graceful and strong free diver of the Metkayina and Tonowari and Ronal's daughter[33][34]
  • Filip Geljo as Aonung, a young male hunter and free diver of the Metkayina and Tonowari and Ronal's son[33][34]
  • Duane Evans Jr. as Rotxo, a young male hunter and free-diver of the Metkayina.[33][34]
  • Matt Gerald as Corporal Lyle Wainfleet, a mercenary for the RDA in their war against the Na'vi who was previously killed by a hammerhead titanothere and was revived as a Recombinant. Gerald was announced to reprise his role in August 2017.[30]
  • Alicia Vela-Bailey as Zdinarsk, a Recombinant and member of the 1st Recom Squadron. Vela-Baily previously portrayed Ikeyni, the leader of the Na'Vi Ikran Clan, in the original Avatar. She is also featured as a stunt performer in both films.[36][37]
  • CJ Jones[38] as an unnamed Metkayina interpreter.

Humans

  • Jack Champion as Miles "Spider" Socorro, a teenager born in Hell's Gate (the human base on Pandora in the first film) who was rescued and adopted by Jake and Neytiri and "prefers his time in the Pandoran rainforest".[33][34][39]
  • Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman, a former member of the Avatar Program who chose to side with the Na'vi in the first film.[40]
  • Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel, a scientist who worked in the Avatar Program and came to support Jake's rebellion against the RDA in the first film.[41]
  • Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, the former corporate administrator for the RDA mining operation.[42]
  • Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore, the commander in charge of the RDA's interests.[43]
  • Brendan Cowell as Captain Mick Scoresby, the head of a private sector marine hunting vessel on the planet of Pandora.[44]
  • Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin, a marine biologist.[45]

Production

Development

In 2006, James Cameron stated that if Avatar (2009) was successful, he hoped to make two sequels.[5] In 2010, he said the film's widespread success confirmed that he would do so.[6] The sequels were originally scheduled for release in December 2014 and 2015.[7] He included certain scenes in the first film for future story follow-ups.[5][12] Cameron planned to shoot the sequels back-to-back and to begin work "once the novel is nailed down".[46] He stated that the sequels would widen the universe while exploring other moons of Polyphemus.[47] The first sequel would focus on the ocean of Pandora and also feature more of the rainforest.[48] He intended to capture footage for the sequel at the bottom of the Mariana Trench using a deepwater submersible.[49] In 2011, Cameron stated that he was just starting to design the ocean ecosystem of Pandora and the other worlds to be included in the story. The storyline, although continuing the environmental theme of the first film, would not be "strident" since the film will concentrate on entertainment.[50] The sequels were confirmed as continuing to follow the characters of Jake and Neytiri in December 2009.[13] Cameron implied that the humans would return as the antagonists of the story.[51] In 2011, Cameron stated his intention to film the sequels at a higher frame rate than the industry standard 24 frames per second, in order to add a heightened sense of reality.[52]

In 2013, Cameron announced that the sequels would be filmed in New Zealand, with performance capture to take place in 2014. An agreement with the New Zealand government required at least one world premiere to be held in Wellington and at least NZ$500 million (approximately US$410 million at December 2013 exchange rates) to be spent on production activity in New Zealand, including live-action filming and visual effects. The New Zealand government announced it would raise its baseline tax rebate for filmmaking from 15% to 20%, with 25% available to international productions in some cases and 40% for New Zealand productions (as defined by section 18 of the New Zealand Film Commission Act 1978).[53][54]

Cameron mentioned a possible third sequel for the first time in 2012; and was officially confirmed the following year.[55][56] Cameron was then looking to release Avatar 2 in 2015, but later that year, production was rescheduled for 2014, with the film to be released in December 2016, and to be followed by the two other sequels in 2017 and 2018.[57] By 2015, the scheduled release dates for the sequels were each delayed by another year, with the first sequel expected to be released in December 2017; this was due to the writing process, which Cameron called "a complex job".[58][59] The following month, Fox announced a further release delay.[60] In February 2016, production of the sequels was scheduled to begin in April 2016 in New Zealand.[61] In April 2016, Cameron announced at CinemaCon that there will be four Avatar sequels, all of which will be filmed simultaneously.[62] The four Avatar sequels share a $1 billion budget (e.g. $250 million each film).[63]

New crew members include cinematographer Russell Carpenter, who worked with Cameron on True Lies (1994) and Titanic (1997), and Aashrita Kamath, who will act as art director on all four sequels.[64][65][66] Kirk Krack, founder of Performance Freediving International, worked as a free-diving trainer for the cast and crew for the underwater scenes.[67] Several creatures introduced in the theme park attraction Avatar Flight of Passage will be featured in the film.[68]

Writing

In 2012, Cameron stated that the sequels were being written as "separate stories that have an overall arc inclusive of the first film", with the second having a clear conclusion instead of a cliffhanger to the next film. Screenwriters were also announced: Josh Friedman for the first, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver for the second, and Shane Salerno for the third.[57] However, Friedman later clarified and stated that Jaffa and Silver were writing the first of the four sequels and he was writing the second.[69] In April 2014, Cameron expected to finish the (then) three scripts within six weeks, stating that all three sequels would be in production simultaneously and were still slated for December 2016 to 2018 releases.[70][71] He stated that although Friedman, Jaffa and Silver, and Salerno are each co-writing one sequel with him, they at first worked together on all three scripts: "I didn't assign each writer which film they were going to work on until the last day. I knew if I assigned them their scripts ahead of time, they'd tune out every time we were talking about the other movie."[57][72][73][19][69][74] Cameron added that they had "worked out every beat of the story across all three films so it all connects as one, sort of, three-film saga", a creative process that was inspired by his experiences in the writing room of his television series Dark Angel.[75] The writing took longer than expected, forcing Cameron to delay the release of the films further in 2015.[58]

He spent a year writing and completing a full script for the first sequel titled Avatar: The High Ground, a 130-page treatment and then threw it out and started over because "it didn’t go enough into the unexpected,” which is one of the critical elements about sequels, according to Cameron. At one point he threatened to fire his writers because they would only focus on the new stories rather than first figuring out what made the original movie a success.[76][77] In December 2015, Cameron stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying "I'm in the process of doing another pass through all three scripts [...] Just refining. That's in parallel with the design process. The design process is very mature at this point. We've been designing for about a year and a half. All the characters, settings and creatures are all pretty much [set]."[78] On February 11, 2017, Cameron announced that the writing of all four sequels was complete.[79] In a November 26 interview the same year, he estimated that the scripts had taken four years to write overall.[80]

Comparing the themes of the sequels to the original, Cameron stated that "It will be a natural extension of all the themes, and the characters, and the spiritual undercurrents. Basically, if you loved the first movie, you're gonna love these movies, and if you hated it, you're probably gonna hate these. If you loved it at the time, and you said later you hated it, you're probably gonna love these".[80] He later compared the sequels to The Godfather franchise (1972-1990), calling it "a generational family saga [...] It's a continuation of the same characters and about what happens when warriors, willing to go on suicide charges and leap off cliffs on to the backs of big orange Toruks, grow up and have their own kids. Now the kids are the change makers. It's interesting."[81]

Discussing the character of Tuk in a February 2019 interview, Cameron mentioned that she was eight years old, and that the film would feature a scene between Jake and Neytiri taking place from Tuk's perspective: "There's a three-page argument scene between Jake and Neytiri, a marital dispute, very, very critical to the storyline. I wound up shooting it all from the point of view of the 8-year-old hiding under the structure and peeking in. Having gone through the experience with [Sam Worthington] on Avatar, I now knew how to write the Jake character going forward across the emotional rollercoaster of the next four movies."[35][82] In a December 2019 interview, Lang stated that his character was always meant to return in the sequels, as Cameron had shared with him "that Quaritch had a future" while shooting the original film.[83]

Sigourney Weaver has stated that "The story is about family, about our families trying to stay together [and] the lengths to which we all go to protect each other and protect the place where we live. It’s very much based on [James Cameron's] family and his joy in the family; and also, how vulnerable you are when you have children."[84] Cameron has stated that the film addresses the implications of Jake and Neytiri becoming parents in the time that elapsed since the first film.[85] Cameron stated:

Becoming a parent changes so much of your behavior and your value system...What we saw in the first film were people who were fearless. Jake would throw himself off his ikran onto a leonopteryx (creatures featured in Avatar) but is a father of four going do that?...He's trying to keep his kids alive and trying to adjust his own life. Is he still a warrior? Are these young boys who are 14, 15, 16, coming up, getting all excited about wanting to go to war and fight for their people and for their land? How's [Jake] going to be a hypocrite and hold them back when he has to go do it?[85]

RogerEbert.com critic Brian Tallerico notes that some of the themes in the film echo themes from earlier films directed by Cameron, including Titanic, Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). For example, the film asks whether you should run and hide from a powerful enemy or fight their evil, similar to the Terminator films. The film also invokes themes of environmentalism and colonization.[86]

Casting

Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña were confirmed in January 2010 to have signed on to reprise their roles in the sequels.[12] Later that year, Cameron confirmed that both Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang would return despite the demise of their characters.[19][15] Cameron also stated that Weaver would be featured in all three sequels (the fourth one was not planned at the time), and that her character, Grace Augustine, would be alive.[16] In March 2015, however, Weaver said that she will play a new character in the next film.[4] Cameron confirmed in 2010 that Lang would return as Quaritch in the first three sequels, stating, "I'm not going to say exactly how we're bringing him back, but it's a science fiction story, after all. His character will evolve into really unexpected places across the arc of our new three-film saga."[19][20] In September 2015, Michelle Rodriguez stated that unlike Weaver and Lang, whose characters had also died in the first film, she would not return in Avatar 2.[87]

Several new cast announcements were made in 2017, with Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder and Matt Gerald all confirmed to return from the first film.[31][32][30][40] Additionally, Cliff Curtis joined the cast as Tonowari, the leader of the Na'vi reef people clan of Metkayina.[28][30] On September 23, 2017, child actor Filip Geljo was revealed to have been signed in an undisclosed role.[88] On September 27, seven child actors were confirmed as a part of the main cast including Geljo: Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton and Trinity Bliss as the children of Jake and Neytiri, Geljo, Bailey Bass, and Duane Evans Jr. as members of the Metkayina (together with Curtis), and Jack Champion, the only one to perform in live action, as a human born on Pandora.[33][34] Cameron later stated that the child cast had been trained for six months to prepare for the underwater scenes filmed in performance capture, and that they now could all hold their breath "in the two- to four-minute range", even then-seven-year-old Trinity Bliss, and were now "all perfectly capable of acting underwater, very calmly while holding their breath".[89][90]

On October 3, 2017, it was reported that Kate Winslet, who starred in Cameron's Titanic, had joined the cast of Avatar 2, and possibly its sequels. Cameron commented, "Kate and I had been looking for something to do together for 20 years, since our collaboration on Titanic, which was one of the most rewarding of my career", and added that her character was named Ronal.[23][91][24] When asked by ComicBook.com on her reasons to return to work with Cameron, Winslet stated that he just asked her to play Ronal and she acceped out of a combination of her love for the first Avatar film, an attraction to the well-written and strong female role she was offered, a love for being on the water and to work with Cameron and the film's cast.[92] Although the nature of her character was originally unknown, Cameron stated the following month that Ronal was "part of the Sea People, the reef people", in reference to the Na'vi clan of Metkayina, making Avatar 2 Winslet's first role via performance capture, or motion capture altogether, which she was looking forward to; as she insisted on performing all her character's movements herself, she, like the child cast, had to learn free-diving for the film.[80][25] Winslet, who had been notoriously reluctant about working with Cameron again because of the complicated situations he puts his actors in for their scenes, stated that Cameron proposed the role to her in July 2017 when he came to help her and their fellow Titanic collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio at a fundraiser in France, sending her the scripts shortly after.[25] She commented that her role was "relatively small comparative to the lengthy shoot", as she would only have one month of shootings, but also "a pivotal character in the ongoing story".[25]

On October 13, 2017, it was announced that Giovanni Ribisi would reprise his role of Parker Selfridge from the first film, in all four upcoming Avatar films.[42] On January 25, 2018, Dileep Rao was confirmed to return as Dr. Max Patel.[41] A year later, Edie Falco and Brendan Cowell joined the cast in live-action roles.[43][44] In October 2019, Edward Norton revealed that he had turned down a role in Avatar 2, due to only being interested in playing a Na'vi, which his proposed character was not.[93]

Filming

Performance capture

Avatar: The Way of Water had entered production and started preliminary shooting on August 15, 2017, with Manhattan Beach, California, as the main shooting location.[94] Principal photography started on September 25, 2017, simultaneously with Avatar 3 (2024).[20][95][96] As Sigourney Weaver later revealed in November, filming had to be moved around to allow her to film a cameo appearance in the series eight finale of Doc Martin (2004–present).[97]

On November 23, Cameron stated that the crew had been undergoing tests with the cast for the last month to film underwater scenes in performance capture, and that they succeeded in filming the first of those on November 14, featuring six of their seven main child actors, including Trinity Bliss.[80] He stated "we're getting really good data, beautiful character motion and great facial performance capture. We've basically cracked the code".[89][90] He said that tests would last until January 2018, as "we're still working in our small test tank. We graduate to our big tank in January".[89] It was "a dialogue scene", as according to Cameron, the characters communicate via "a kind of a sign language".[80]

On April 30, 2018, Kate Winslet had "just a couple days" of shooting left to do.[98] While filming an underwater scene, Winslet held her breath for over seven minutes, breaking the record for longest breath held while shooting a film scene underwater, a record previously held by Tom Cruise for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015).[17] In May 2018, Saldaña stated that filming was "kind of only halfway done" and that the crew is "about [to finish] motion capture production on the [second and third] movies, and then after that, they go straight into pre-production for the live-action part that would shoot for six months in New Zealand."[99] Saldaña finished shooting her scenes on June 8, for both Avatar 2 and its sequel, while Cameron stated around the same time that 130 days of performance capture had been shot.[26][27] On November 14, 2018, Cameron announced filming with the principal performance capture cast had been completed.[22]

Live-action

In February 2019, Landau stated that live-action filming for Avatar 2 and 3 would commence in New Zealand in the spring of 2019.[100] Cameron confirmed later the same month that they had "only wrapped for [the motion capture parts]. Now, that is the vast majority of the characters and it is the vast majority of the running time of the film[s]. But that pesky little live action component is going to cost me five months of my life across the two movies."[101] Filming for 2019 concluded on November 29, to resume the following year in New Zealand.[102][103][104]

On March 17, 2020, Landau announced that the filming of the Avatar sequel films in New Zealand had been postponed indefinitely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also confirmed that production would remain in Los Angeles.[105] However, virtual production continued in Manhattan Beach, California while visual effects continued at Weta Digital in Wellington.[106] In early May, health and safety production protocols had been endorsed by the New Zealand government, allowing filming to resume in the country.[107] On June 1, 2020, Landau posted a picture of himself and Cameron on Instagram, showing that they had returned to New Zealand to resume filming. After their arrival, Cameron and 55 other crew members who had traveled to New Zealand started a 2-week government-supervised isolation period at a hotel in Wellington before they would resume filming. This would make Avatar 2 and 3 the first major Hollywood blockbusters to resume production after postponing filming due to the pandemic.[108][109][110][111] On June 16, 2020, Cameron resumed filming and Landau posted a photo of his crew on Instagram filming the production.[112][113] In September 2020, Cameron confirmed that live action filming in New Zealand had been completed, therefore completing the shooting of the film altogether after over three years; he estimated Avatar 3 to be "95%" completed, due to having live-action parts yet to be filmed outside of New Zealand.[114][115][116]

In July 2022, the New Zealand Film Commission disclosed that the Avatar sequels had received over NZ$140 million worth of public funding through the country's Screen Production Grant. By comparison, The Hobbit trilogy (2012-2014) had received NZ$161 million in film subsidies. While ACT party deputy leader Brooke van Velden criticised the Government's film subsidy programme for allegedly taking public funding from other areas, the Economic Development and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash argued that New Zealand's film subsidies for major Hollywood products brought much needed overseas investment and jobs to the New Zealand film industry.[117]

Visual effects

"It's never been done before and it's very tricky because our motion capture system, like most motion capture systems, is what they call optical base, meaning that it uses markers that are photographed with hundreds of cameras. The problem with water is not the underwater part, but the interface between the air and the water, which forms a moving mirror. That moving mirror reflects all the dots and markers, and ... it creates thousands of false targets, so we've had to figure out how to get around that problem, which we did. ... It's taken us about a year and a half now to work out how we're going to do it."

— Cameron, on blending underwater filming and motion capture system.[118][119]

On July 31, 2017, it was announced that Wētā FX had commenced work on the Avatar sequels.[120] The film will heavily feature underwater scenes, actually filmed underwater with the cast in performance capture.[89][90] Blending underwater filming and performance capture being a feature never accomplished before, it took the team a year and a half to develop a new motion capture system.[119][118]

Landau stated in November 2015 that Avatar 2 would have a number of major technological improvements since the first movie. A lot more of the lighting work on the virtual production stage could be done during production instead of post-production, and like Alita: Battle Angel (2019), which is produced and co-written by Cameron, the crew can use two lightweight HD head cams to record the actors' facial performance. In addition they also used two digital puppets instead of just one; one that is an accurate copy of the real actor, and another that is the actor's character, allowing the team to re-target one onto the other to make it as accurate as possible.[121][122]

Cameron stated that there was possibility that the film could be shown in "glasses-free 3D", along with the sequels.[123][124] But he later disagreed with these rumors and did not think the technology would be there yet.[125]

The film was completed on November 23, 2022.[126]

Music

Avatar composer James Horner was originally reported to score music for the franchise, before his death in a plane crash in June 2015.[127] In December 2019, Simon Franglen, who had previously worked with both Cameron and Horner as record producer and arranger since 1997's Titanic, including on Avatar (notably completing Horner's score for 2016's The Magnificent Seven after his passing), was reported to write music for the film.[128] Landau confirmed his involvement in the project in August 2021, while also associating with the forthcoming Avatar sequels.[129][130] Horner's score will be reused in the film, in addition to the original themes produced by Franglen.[130] The scoring for the film officially began on July 29, 2022, at the Newman Scoring Stage in 20th Century.[131] The soundtrack album was released on December 15, 2022, by Hollywood Records.[132]

In November, it was reported that the film would feature an original song titled "Song Chord" which will be performed by Franglen and Zoe Saldana.[133] The following month, it was announced that Canadian singer The Weeknd will contribute an original song, "Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)", to the film, produced by Franglen and Swedish supergroup Swedish House Mafia.[132][134]

Avatar: The Way of Water (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)"The Weeknd4:28
2."Into the Water" 3:40
3."Happiness Is Simple" 2:22
4."A New Star" 2:57
5."Converging Paths" 1:45
6."Rescue and Loss" 6:40
7."Family Is Our Fortress" 3:07
8."Hometree" 3:28
9."The Way of Water" 2:30
10."Payakan" 3:30
11."Mighty Eywa" 4:13
12."Friends" 1:47
13."Cove of the Ancestors" 2:46
14."The Tulkun Return" 2:51
15."The Hunt" 5:48
16."Na'vi Attack" 4:44
17."Eclipse" 3:13
18."Bad Parents" 3:23
19."Knife Fight" 2:48
20."From Darkness to Light" 4:14
21."The Spirit Tree" 2:58
22."The Songcord"Zoe Saldaña3:20
Total length:1:16:00

Marketing

Disney extensively promoted Avatar: The Way of Water across multiple media platforms, including merchandising, consumer products, theme parks and advertising.[135] At the 2022 CinemaCon,[136] the new title for the sequel was officially announced and the first teaser trailer was debuted at the event,[137] along with four new first look images, showing off the adventures of the Na'vi on and off the coasts of Pandora.[4] It was theatrically showcased at the premiere of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,[138][139] and was later released online on May 9, 2022.[140] The teaser finished its first 24-hour online window with 148.6 million views,[141] including 23 million from China alone, according to Disney and 20th Century.[142][143] Grant Ridner of GQ commented "The trailer features minimal dialogue and primarily focuses on shots of the cerulean Pandora and its residents, as well as indigenous flora and fauna."[144] However, Stuart Heritage of The Guardian criticized the teaser saying that "There isn't a trace of premise here, or character, or any real action to speak of. Instead, we're given a minute and a half of nice-looking scenery. It's like being held hostage to look at someone's holiday photos."[145] Louis Chilton of The Independent also felt that the trailer "feels rather too much like a tech demo, or the trailer for a long-gestating video-game sequel".[146]

In June 2022, the teaser was edited by Disney ahead of the theatrical screenings of Pixar's Lightyear, where sequences featuring Sully hold a rifle and few guns were edited. According to Russ Burlingame of Comic Book Resources, the trailer was edited due to "public sentiments to avoid glorifying gun violence" as Lightyear released after the Robb Elementary School shooting incident,[147] while TheWrap's Drew Taylor opined that the change was made on the request of Motion Picture Association for attaching the trailer with PG-rated films.[148] New set photos were released by Empire on June 30, 2022, showing Kate Winslet and Cliff Curtis in their Na'vi forms,[149] and subsequent photos were released on the following day, showing Sigourney Weaver as Jake and Neytiri's adopted teenage Na’vi daughter, Kiri.[14] Though the film was not promoted at the San Diego Comic-Con event, Lego released four new sets from the franchise as a part of the promotions.[150]

8-minutes of the film's footage was showcased in 3D at the D23 Expo on September 10, 2022.[151][152] McFarlane Toys had launched several action figures based on the characters and creatures, which were unveiled at the event.[153] The collections were officially released on October 1.[154] A second footage from the film is shown during the credits of the Avatar re-release on September 23, which evidently varies in different versions and screenings.[155][156] The official trailer was released on November 2, 2022, at Good Morning America.[157][158] New brand poster characters were released on November 21, 2022, and the second and final trailer was also released.[159][160] An 18-minute "never-seen-before" footage from the film was released exclusively released at the CCXP convention on December 2.[161] The footage features independent storylines surrounding Jake's character and events occurring several years since the first film.[162]

Disney initiated the environmental global campaign, "Keep Our Oceans Amazing”, to support the Nature Conservancy in the conservation of marine habitats and animal species.[135][163] A concept art book titled The Art of Avatar: The Way of Water, written by Tara Bennett and forward by Robert Rodriguez, was made available for pre-order in October 2022, and will be released simultaneously with the film.[164] Another book titled, Avatar The Way of Water: The Visual Dictionary by Joshua Izzo is also set to be released with the film.[164]

Steven Gould has been hired to write four novels based on the four Avatar sequels, starting with Avatar 2.[165] After several media outlets shared rumors of potential titles for the Avatar sequels, including Avatar: The Way of Water for Avatar 2, Cameron confirmed that the titles mentioned were "among titles that are in consideration, but no final decisions have been made yet."[166]

Release

Theatrical

Avatar: The Way of Water had its world premiere on December 6, 2022, at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 16, 2022, distributed by 20th Century Studios.[167] The film is the first in the series to be released under Disney, since its acquisition of both 20th Century Studios and the rights to Avatar in 2019.[168][169]

The film was released in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, and IMAX 3D formats. Select showings also had support for dynamic high frame rate up to 48 frames-per-second.[170] The Way of Water alongside the forthcoming sequels was released in Dolby Vision.[80] The film was subjected to eight delays, as the crew took more time on the writing, pre-production and visual effects process. Initially in late-2010, the film was scheduled for release in December 2014.[7] By mid-2013, Cameron originally intended Avatar 2 to be released in December 2015,[57] which was subsequently delayed to 2016 and then to 2017.[59][58] In April 2016, Cameron announced four Avatar sequels which would be released in December 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023;[62] but, in March 2017, he stated that this film would not be released in 2018, due to extensive production and the visual effects process.[171]

In April 2017, a new release date of December 18, 2020 was announced, with all the other sequels: Avatar 3, 4 and 5 releasing on December 17, 2021, December 20, 2024, and December 19, 2025, respectively.[10] However, following the announcement of the three upcoming Star Wars films,[172] in May 2019, the sequels were delayed another two years, with this film being scheduled to be released on December 17, 2021.[173] The release date was again deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in August 2020, a new release date of December 16, 2022 was announced.[170] Mentioning about the delays, Cameron felt optimistic that it would not harm the films' success, likening it to his films Aliens (1986) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), which were both commercially successful sequels released seven years after the original films.[80][174] The film was also approved for release in China, making it one of the few Hollywood blockbusters to be granted permission in 2022.[175]

Runtime

In July 2022, Empire revealed the runtime was "around three hours" at that stage in production.[176] In November 2022, the film's runtime was revealed to be 192 minutes (3 hours and 12 minutes).[1] In the Empire interview, Cameron stated "I don't want anybody whining about length when they sit and binge-watch [television] for eight hours... I've watched my kids sit and do five one-hour episodes in a row. Here's the big social paradigm shift that has to happen: it's okay to get up and go pee."[177][178]

Reception

Box office

One week prior to the film's December 16 release, Boxoffice Pro projected a domestic opening weekend in North America to be $167–192 million, and projected the film would earn $662–861 million for its total domestic gross.[179]

In regards to box-office projections according to James Cameron, it is estimated that due to the film's near-record-breaking budget, "[This film represents] the worst business case in movie history. You have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. That's your threshold. That's your break even."[180]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 240 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Narratively, it might be fairly standard stuff -- but visually speaking, Avatar: The Way of Water is a stunningly immersive experience."[181] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on 57 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[182]

ReelViews critic James Berardinelli called Way of Water "awesome," saying that it "may not be the most intricately made or intellectually rigorous motion picture, but it exemplifies what 'cinematic' means today."[183] In terms of visuals, Berardinelli stated that he'd "never be able to adequately describe the leap forward that The Way of Water takes" and that "it’s as close to Virtual Reality as can be obtained in a movie theater."[183] In terms of plot, Berardinelli said that "the overall narrative has a familiar quality" but that "the storyline is sufficiently engaging and the characters all have arcs."[183] Slant Magazine critic Keith Uhlich praised the "genuine thrills provided by its pioneering pageantry" while noting "the perversity of preaching for a small [environmental] footprint with a production this inordinately large."[184] Variety critic Owen Gleiberman praised the film as a "dizzyingly spectacular sequel" with "miraculously sustained" combat sequences, "scenes that will make your eyes pop, your head spin and your soul race" and "state-of-the-art 3D (never in-your-face, just images that look and feel sculpted) [that] makes the film’s every underwater glide feel as experiential as one that you’re literally on."[185] On the other hand, Gleiberman felt that the story is "basic" with a "string of serviceable clichés," "bare-bones dialogue" and little dimensionality to the characters.[185] The Atlantic critic David Sims said that the film will wow audiences and exhibit "new delights...in the alien world of Pandora" while noting that the film gets off to a slow start that is " busy with plot details as the film updates the audience on the past decade-plus of Pandoran life."[186] Entertainment Weekly critic Leah Greenblatt summed up her review of The Way of Water saying that it "created its own whole-cloth reality, a meticulous world-building as astonishing and enveloping as anything we've ever seen on screen — until that crown is passed, inevitably, in December 2024, the projected release date for Avatar 3."[187]

In contrast, The Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw was critical of the "scathingly bland plot" and noted that despite the shift in setting "there isn’t a single interesting visual image".[188] San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Mick LaSalle called it "a one-hour story rattling around in a 192-minute bag," while acknowledging that "it looks pretty good," incorporating "one of the best uses of 3-D to date, with visuals that seem to have been conceived in three dimensions."[189] The Telegraph critic Robbie Collin said that the film "has no plot, no stakes and atrocious dialogue" and that "for all its world-building sprawl, The Way of Water is a horizon-narrowing experience – the sad sight of a great filmmaker reversing up a creative cul-de-sac."[190]

Accolades

Accolades received by Avatar: The Way of Water
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
AACTA International Awards February 24, 2023 Best Film Avatar: The Way of Water Pending [191]
Best Direction James Cameron Pending
American Film Institute Awards December 9, 2022 Top 10 Films of the Year Avatar: The Way of Water Won [192]
Black Reel Awards February 6, 2023 Outstanding Voice Performance Zoe Saldaña Pending [193]
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards December 14, 2022 Best Art Direction/Production Design Avatar: The Way of Water Nominated [194]
[195]
Best Use of Visual Effects Avatar: The Way of Water Nominated
Critics' Choice Movie Awards January 15, 2023 Best Picture Avatar: The Way of Water Pending [196]
Best Director James Cameron Pending
Best Cinematography Russell Carpenter Pending
Best Editing Stephen Rivkin, David Brenner, John Refoua, and James Cameron Pending
Best Production Design Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, and Vanessa Cole Pending
Best Visual Effects Avatar: The Way of Water Pending
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards December 21, 2022 Best Visual Effects Avatar: The Way of Water Pending [197]
Golden Globe Awards January 10, 2023 Best Motion Picture – Drama Avatar: The Way of Water Pending[needs update] [198]
Best Director James Cameron Pending
Golden Trailer Awards October 6, 2022 Best Fantasy Adventure "The Beginning" (JAX) Nominated [199]
[200]
Best Original Score "The Beginning" (JAX) Nominated
Hollywood Critics Association Awards February 24, 2023 Best Picture Avatar: The Way of Water Pending [201]
Best Director James Cameron Pending
Best Voice or Motion-Capture Performance Zoe Saldaña Pending
Best Cinematography Russell Carpenter Pending
Best Production Design Dylan Cole and Ben Procter Pending
Best Sound Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Julian Howarth, Gary Summers, and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle Pending
Best Visual Effects Richie Baneham, Dan Barrett, Joe Letteri, and Eric Saindon Pending
Hollywood Critics Association Creative Arts Awards February 17, 2023 Best Cinematography Russell Carpenter Pending[needs update] [202]
Best Production Design Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, and Vanessa Cole Pending
Best Sound Christopher Boyes, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Gary Summers, Michael Hedges, and Julian Howarth Pending
Best Visual Effects Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett Pending
Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards July 1, 2022 Most Anticipated Film Avatar: The Way of Water Nominated [203]
[204]
Hollywood Music in Media Awards November 16, 2022 Best Original Score in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Simon Franglen Won [205]
Best Original Song in a Feature Film Simon Franglen and Zoe Saldana for "Song Chord" Nominated
Song/Score — Trailer Simon Franglen for "Trailer" Nominated
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards December 11, 2022 Best Production Design Dylan Cole and Ben Proctor Won [206]
National Board of Review Awards December 8, 2022 Top Ten Films Avatar: The Way of Water Won [207]
New York Film Critics Online Awards December 11, 2022 Top Films of the Year Avatar: The Way of Water Won [208]
Satellite Awards February 11, 2023 Best Motion Picture – Drama Avatar: The Way of Water Pending[needs update] [209]
Best Director James Cameron Pending
Best Cinematography Russell Carpenter Pending
Best Production Design Dylan Cole and Ben Procter Pending
Best Sound (Editing and Mixing) Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Julian Howarth, Gary Summers, and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle Pending
Best Visual Effects Richie Baneham, Dan Barrett, Joe Letteri, and Eric Saindon Pending
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards December 18, 2022 Best Action Film Avatar: The Way of Water Pending[needs update] [210]
Best Visual Effects Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett Pending
Best Production Design Dylan Cole and Ben Procter Pending
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards December 12, 2022 Best Motion Capture Performance Sam Worthington Nominated [211]
Sigourney Weaver Nominated
Zoe Saldaña Won

Sequels

The Way of Water is the first of four planned sequels to Avatar. Avatar 3 started filming simultaneously with this film in New Zealand on September 25, 2017. Cast members from previous films including Worthington, Saldaña, Lang, Weaver, Pounder, Curtis, Ribisi, Moore, Rao, and Gerald have all been announced to return while Oona Chaplin will be joining alongside David Thewlis as new characters.[212]

Although the last two sequels have been reportedly greenlit, Cameron stated in a November 2017 interview: "Let's face it, if Avatar 2 and 3 don't make enough money, there's not going to be a 4 and 5".[80] Thewlis later confirmed this in February 2018, stating "they're making 2 and 3, they're gonna see if people go and see them, and then they'll make 4 and 5."[213] Conversely, Weaver stated in November 2018, after the first two sequels had completed main photography, that she was currently "busy doing Avatar 4 and 5", which several media outlets interpreted as confirmation that the last two sequels had started filming.[214][215][216]

In January 2019, in face of the proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that both Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 are being developed but have not been officially greenlit.[217] According to producer Landau in February 2019, Iger may have been misinterpreted. He said that Avatar 4 and 5 "are not only [greenlit]" but also a third of Avatar 4 has already been filmed.[218]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Couch, Pamela; McClintock, Aaron (October 29, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water' Runtime Sails Past Three Hours". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Box Office: 'Avatar: The Way of Water' Lands Coveted China Release". The Hollywood Reporter. November 22, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  3. ^ "Avatar: The Way of Water". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 15, 2022.Edit this at Wikidata
  4. ^ a b c d Klein, Brennan (April 30, 2022). "Avatar 2 First Images Reveal What James Cameron Has Spent 13 Years On". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Carroll, Larry (June 29, 2006). "'Titanic' Mastermind James Cameron's King-Size Comeback: Two Sci-Fi Trilogies". MTV. Archived from the original on July 5, 2006. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Rosenberg, Adam (January 8, 2010). "'Avatar' Sequel Confirmed By James Cameron... And Here's What We'd Like To See". MTV. Archived from the original on January 16, 2010. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c McClintock, Pamela (October 27, 2010). "James Cameron's 5-year plan". Variety. Archived from the original on January 12, 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  8. ^ White, Adam (July 23, 2020). "Avatar 2 delayed indefinitely due to coronavirus, confirms James Cameron". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  9. ^ Mendelson, Scott (July 25, 2020). "Box Office: 'Avatar 2' Delay Means Universal's 'F9' And 'Jurassic World: Dominion' Could Rule 2021". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Reimann, Tom (July 23, 2020). "The 'Avatar' Sequels Have Been Delayed Again, So I Guess Things Are Returning to Normal". Collider. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  11. ^ "James Cameron is Prepared to Wrap Things up with Avatar 3 if the Sequels Aren't Profitable". November 5, 2022.
  12. ^ a b c d Robertson, Lindsay (January 14, 2010). "James Cameron Planning 'Avatar' Trilogy". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on January 18, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2010.
  13. ^ a b c Ditzian, Eric (December 21, 2009). "James Cameron Talks 'Avatar' Sequel Plans". MTV. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
  14. ^ a b Travis, Ben (July 1, 2022). "Sigourney Weaver Plays Jake And Neytiri's Adopted Teenage Na'vi Daughter In Avatar 2 – World-Exclusive". Empire. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Sigourney Weaver Avatar 2 role confirmed". BBC News. September 18, 2011. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  16. ^ a b Valdez, Rubi (September 14, 2014). "Avatar 2 Movie Spoilers, Release Date: Sigourney Weaver Alive, Will Play Crucial Role in New Trilogy". Breathecast.com. Breathe Cast. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  17. ^ a b c Rawden, Jessica (November 1, 2020). "Kate Winslet Beats Tom Cruise's Underwater Record In Avatar 2". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  18. ^ a b Travis, Ben (July 3, 2022). "Stephen Lang's Quaritch Is 'Bigger, Bluer, And Pissed Off' In Avatar 2 – Exclusive Image". Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  19. ^ a b c d Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 22, 2013). "James Cameron Has Found Avatar's Darth Vader: It's Stephen Lang". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c "Avatar 2 Filming Starts This Week!". SuperHeroHype. September 25, 2017. Archived from the original on July 13, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  21. ^ Evry, Max (August 8, 2017). "Colonel Quaritch Will be the Main Villain in the Avatar Sequels". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  22. ^ a b Boucher, Geoff (November 14, 2018). "James Cameron: The 'Avatar' Sequels Have Wrapped Production". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 14, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  23. ^ a b Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 3, 2017). "Kate Winslet Joins 'Avatar' Universe For 'Titanic' Reunion With James Cameron". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 4, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  24. ^ a b Couch, Aaron; Galuppo, Mia (October 3, 2017). "Kate Winslet Joins James Cameron's 'Avatar' Universe". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 4, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  25. ^ a b c d e Setoodeh, Ramin (24 October 2017). "Kate Winslet on Woody Allen, 'Wonder Wheel' and the 20th Anniversary of 'Titanic'". Variety. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  26. ^ a b Mitchell, Bea (June 13, 2018). "Zoe Saldaña has already finished shooting Avatar 2 and 3". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  27. ^ a b Rawden, Jessica (June 13, 2018). "Zoe Saldaña Has Wrapped Filming, And Other Details About Avatar 2 And 3". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  28. ^ a b Chitwood, Adam (May 9, 2017). "'Avatar' Sequels Add 'Fear the Walking Dead' Star Cliff Curtis in Lead Role". Collider. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  29. ^ Anthony D'Alessandro (May 9, 2017). "'Avatar' Sequels Update: 'Fear The Walking Dead's Cliff Curtis Signs On For Lead Role". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  30. ^ a b c d D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 7, 2017). "Matt Gerald Returning To James Cameron's 'Avatar' World; Boards Crackle's 'The Oath'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  31. ^ a b McNary, Dave (July 24, 2017). "CCH Pounder to Return for 'Avatar' Sequels". Variety. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  32. ^ a b Hipes, Patrick (July 24, 2017). "CCH Pounder Rejoins 'Avatar' Team For Sequels". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  33. ^ a b c d e f g h Goldberg, Matt (September 27, 2017). "'Avatar' Sequels Reveal First Look at the Young Cast". Collider. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  34. ^ a b c d e f g h Hibberd, James (September 27, 2017). "Avatar 2: First look at sequel's next generation cast". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  35. ^ a b Hutchinson, Emily (February 19, 2019). "Avatar 2 time jump revealed by James Cameron". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  36. ^ "Olìtsazi | Olly on Instagram: "dang Alicia… you're looking kinda different today… new makeup routine? 👀😆". Instagram.
  37. ^ Avatar: The Next Shadow issue #1, pg. 7
  38. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (June 25, 2019). "'Baby Driver' And 'Avatar 2' Actor CJ Jones Tells Hollywood That Disabled Are Able To Tell Their Own Stories – CAA Amplify". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 20, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  39. ^ "New 'Avatar 2' Photo Introduces Spider, a Human Adopted by Jake and Neytiri". Collider. December 20, 2021. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  40. ^ a b N'Duka, Amanda (May 31, 2017). "Joel David Moore Returning For 'Avatar' Sequels". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  41. ^ a b N'Duka, Amanda (January 25, 2018). "Dileep Rao To Reprise His Role In James Cameron's 'Avatar' Films". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  42. ^ a b N'Duka, Amanda (October 13, 2017). "'Avatar': Giovanni Ribisi Returning For All Four Sequels". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  43. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 6, 2019). "Edie Falco Joins James Cameron's 'Avatar' Franchise". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  44. ^ a b Couch, Aaron (March 28, 2019). "'Avatar' Sequels Cast 'Game of Thrones' Actor Brendan Cowell". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  45. ^ McNary, Dave (May 15, 2019). "James Cameron's 'Avatar' Sequels Casts Jemaine Clement". Variety. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  46. ^ Rosenberg, Adam (August 7, 2010). "EXCLUSIVE: 'Avatar' Sequels Could Shoot Back-To-Back, Story Hints In Upcoming Novel". MTV. Archived from the original on August 14, 2010. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
  47. ^ "Update: Cameron Talks Avatar Blu-ray/DVD Releases and Sequel". Comingsoon.net. February 19, 2010. Archived from the original on February 22, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  48. ^ Day, Patrick Kevin (April 20, 2010). "James Cameron: The 'Avatar' sequel will dive into the oceans of Pandora". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  49. ^ Harlow, John (September 12, 2010). "James Cameron commissions deep sea sub to film footage for Avatar sequel". The Australian. Archived from the original on June 16, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
  50. ^ "Cameron: New 'Avatar 2' Details". ABC News. October 11, 2011. Archived from the original on January 2, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  51. ^ Ditzian, Eric (February 18, 2010). "James Cameron Says 'Everyone's Highly Motivated' For 'Avatar' Sequel". MTV. Archived from the original on February 21, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
  52. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (March 30, 2011). "James Cameron 'Fully Intends' to Make 'Avatar 2 and 3' at Higher Frame Rates". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 1, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  53. ^ Joyce, Steven; Finlayson, Christopher (December 16, 2013). "Three Avatar films to be made in New Zealand". New Zealand Government. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  54. ^ Larson, Jared (December 15, 2013). "Trilogy of Avatar Sequels to Be Made in New Zealand". IGN. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  55. ^ Gallagher, Brian (May 7, 2012). "James Cameron to Make Avatar 4 Instead of Battle Angel". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  56. ^ Keegan, Rebecca (September 10, 2012). "James Cameron: 'Avatar' sequels 'a daunting writing task'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 21, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  57. ^ a b c d Fleming, Mike Jr. (August 1, 2013). "'Avatar' Sequels Upped To Three; Fox, James Cameron Set Trio of Writers to Spearhead". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  58. ^ a b c Lang, Brent (January 14, 2015). "James Cameron Pushes Back 'Avatar' Sequels By a Year". Variety. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  59. ^ a b "James Cameron Says 'Avatar' Sequel Delayed Until 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press. January 14, 2015. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  60. ^ Cunningham, Todd (January 21, 2016). "James Cameron's 'Avatar 2' Won't Be Ready for Christmas 2017 (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Archived from the original on January 23, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  61. ^ "Avatar sequel to start shooting in New Zealand in April". Stuff. February 3, 2016. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  62. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 14, 2016). "20th Century Fox CinemaCon: 'Avatar' Sequels, 'Deadpool 2', 'Greatest Showman On Earth' Updates, Vanilla Ice Raps, 'Assassin's Creed', 'Birth Of A Nation' & More". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  63. ^ Cabin, Chris (September 30, 2017). "The 'Avatar' Sequels "Will Be the Most Expensive Movies of All Time," According to Fox". Collider. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  64. ^ "Russell Carpenter To Receive ASC Lifetime Achievement Award". Shoot. October 5, 2017. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  65. ^ Maskeri, Anju (October 29, 2017). "Art Director Aashrita Kamath Talks About Working On 'Avatar' Sequels". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  66. ^ Nadadhur, Srivathsan (November 21, 2017). "Aashrita Kamath: Pushing the celluloid ceiling". The Hindu. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  67. ^ Liang, John (December 1, 2017). "Upcoming Avatar 2 Movie Cast Being Trained To Freedive". Deeperblue.com. Deeper Blue. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  68. ^ Scott, Ryan (August 14, 2018). "Avatar Sequels Stay on Pandora, Will Include Theme Park Crossovers". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  69. ^ a b Friedman, Josh. "I appreciate the congrats and links and such today. One small point of order: I'm writing Avatar 3, not 2. Jaffa&Silver are writing 2". Twitter. Twitter. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  70. ^ Cameron, James. "I am James Cameron. AMA". Reddit. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  71. ^ Lieberman, David (April 12, 2014). "Update: James Cameron on 'Avatar' Sequel Timetable Following Rupert Murdoch's Comments". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  72. ^ Vijay, Amar (November 26, 2014). "James Cameron Talks Avatar Sequels". Empire. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  73. ^ Medina, Joseph (November 28, 2014). "James Cameron Opens Up About 'Avatar' Sequels". Inquisitr. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  74. ^ "Avatar: The Way of Water I Keep Our Oceans Amazing". Avatar. 20th Century Studios. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  75. ^ Freeman, Molly (June 1, 2014). "James Cameron Used 'Dark Angel' Experience to Write 'Avatar' Sequels". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on December 16, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  76. ^ Sharf, Zack (September 22, 2022). "James Cameron Spent an Entire Year Writing an 'Avatar 2' Script, and Then He Threw It Out: It Wasn't 'Subconscious' Enough".
  77. ^ Jordan Farley (November 8, 2022). "James Cameron discusses his scrapped Avatar 2 script". Total Film. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  78. ^ Lee, Chris (December 11, 2015). "Avatar 2: James Cameron wants to prove success wasn't 'some big fluke'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 21, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  79. ^ Cruz, Janna Dela (February 8, 2017). "'Avatar 2' Script News: James Cameron Feels Like He's Been Freed From Jail After Completing Script for All 5 Films". The Christian Post. Archived from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  80. ^ a b c d e f g h Keegan, Rebecca (November 26, 2017). "James Cameron on Titanic's Legacy and the Impact of a Fox Studio Sale". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on November 27, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  81. ^ "Cameron Says Avatar Sequels are Godfather-Like, Talks Avengers". Comingsoon.net. April 22, 2018. Archived from the original on April 22, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  82. ^ Barsanti, Sam (February 18, 2019). "Avatar 2 will capture the thrill of hiding under a bed while your parents fight". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on February 20, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  83. ^ Bernaschina, Michael (December 22, 2019). "Avatar 2: Stephen Lang's Character Was Always Supposed to Return". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  84. ^ Taylor, Elizabeth (September 29, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water' Is 'Very Much Based on' James Cameron's Family, Sigourney Weaver Says". Variety. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  85. ^ a b Mishra, Shrishty (November 11, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water': James Cameron on How Jake and Neytiri Have Changed Since the First Film". Collider. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  86. ^ Tallerico, Brian (December 13, 2022). "Avatar: The Way of Water". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  87. ^ Oleksinski, Johnny (September 14, 2015). "Don't expect to see Michelle Rodriguez in 'Avatar 2'". New York Post. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  88. ^ "'Odd Squad' Kid Actor Not Feeling Blue About 'Avatar' Banks $150k For Sequels!!!". TMZ. September 23, 2017. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  89. ^ a b c d "'Avatar 2' fans will have to wait awhile: James Cameron". Gulf News. Get That. November 23, 2017. Archived from the original on November 24, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  90. ^ a b c Lussier, Germain (November 21, 2017). "Avatar 2's Cast Learned to Hold Their Breaths for Extended Periods to Film Underwater Performance Capture". io9. Gizmodo. Archived from the original on November 24, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  91. ^ Reilly, Kaitlin (October 4, 2017). "Kate Winslet Is Joining Avatar 2 & Hopefully It Will Have A Happier Ending Than Her Last James Cameron Movie". Refinery29. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  92. ^ "Avatar 2: Kate Winslet Reveals Why She Reunited With James Cameron Decades After Titanic (Exclusive)". ComicBook.com. December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  93. ^ Jones, Mike (October 20, 2019). "Edward Norton Turned Down Avatar 2 Role Because It Wasn't For a Na'vi". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  94. ^ Shepherd, Jack (March 1, 2017). "Avatar 2 officially starts filming in August, James Cameron teams up with Ubisoft for Avatar game". The Independent. Archived from the original on March 7, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  95. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (June 20, 2017). "'Avatar' Sequels Update: Production "Officially" Begins In September On Saga's Stand-Alones – CineEurope". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  96. ^ Dumaraog, Ana (June 20, 2017). "Avatar Sequels Officially Begin Production in September". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  97. ^ Raphael, Amy (November 2017). "Doc Martin stars Sigourney Weaver and Selina Cadell reveal their 40-year friendship". Radio Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  98. ^ Brookins, Laurie (April 30, 2018). "Kate Winslet Talks Timepieces, 'Avatar 2' and a Treasured Gift From Eli Wallach". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 5, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  99. ^ Butler, Mary Anne (May 1, 2018). "Zoe Saldaña Talks Avatar Sequels and James Cameron's Superhero Fatigue Comments". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on May 5, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  100. ^ El-Mahmoud, Sarah (February 20, 2019). "No, The Avatar Sequels Haven't Wrapped Filming". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on February 23, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  101. ^ Chitwood, Adam (February 7, 2019). "Exclusive: 'Avatar' Sequels Begin Filming Live-Action Sequences This Spring in New Zealand". Collider. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  102. ^ Bennett, Anita (November 30, 2019). "'Avatar' Sequel Marks End Of Filming For 2019 With Set Photo". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 1, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  103. ^ @officialavatar (November 29, 2019). "Yep! We'll be back in New Zealand in 2020 with more new sets" (Tweet). Retrieved November 30, 2019 – via Twitter.
  104. ^ @officialavatar (December 1, 2019). "Yep just for the end of the year!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via Twitter.
  105. ^ Dillane, Tom (March 17, 2020). "Coronavirus in NZ: James Cameron's Avatar filming delayed indefinitely". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  106. ^ Landau, Jon (March 19, 2020). "Production of Avatar sequels delayed; visual effects work continues at Weta Digital". Scoop. Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  107. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (May 7, 2020). "New Zealand Returns To Production, Paving Way For 'Avatar' Sequels & 'The Lord Of The Rings' Series To Resume Filming". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 7, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  108. ^ "Jon Landau on Instagram". @jonplandau - via Instagram. May 31, 2020. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021. Made it to New Zealand. Our 14-day government supervised self-isolation now begins.
  109. ^ "James Cameron lands in New Zealand to resume the production of Avatar 2". Pinkvilla. June 2, 2020. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  110. ^ Sharf, Zack (June 1, 2020). "James Cameron Goes Into 14-Day New Zealand Quarantine Before 'Avatar 2' Restarts Filming". IndieWire. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  111. ^ Pasley, James (June 3, 2020). "New Zealand government is slammed for letting 'Avatar 2' film crew land during lockdown, classifying them as 'essential workers'". Insider. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  112. ^ Libbey, Dirk (June 17, 2020). "Avatar 2 Has Resumed Filming, And There's A Photo". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  113. ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (June 18, 2020). "Avatar 2 'sneak peek' released as James Cameron returns to director's chair". The Independent. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  114. ^ Zinski, Dan (September 25, 2020). "Avatar 2 Has Completed Filming, James Cameron Confirms". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  115. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (September 28, 2020). "James Cameron Says 'Avatar 2' Filming Is 100% Complete, 'Avatar 3' 95% Finished; Praises New Zealand COVID Response". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  116. ^ McNary, Dave (September 28, 2020). "'Avatar 2' Has Filming Finished, 'Avatar 3' Is 95% Complete, James Cameron Says". Variety. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  117. ^ Walls, Jason (July 5, 2022). "Avatar sequels have seen taxpayers fork out $140 million so far". Newstalk ZB. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  118. ^ a b Stolworthy, Jacob (November 22, 2017). "James Cameron reveals why Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5 have taken so long". The Independent. Archived from the original on November 25, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  119. ^ a b Jones, Damian (November 23, 2017). "James Cameron shares insight into the production of 'Avatar 2'". NME. Archived from the original on November 23, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  120. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (July 31, 2017). "Weta Digital Underway On James Cameron's Four 'Avatar' Sequels". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  121. ^ Desowitz, Bill (November 15, 2018). "James Cameron Is Conquering New VFX Frontiers for the 'Avatar' Sequels". IndieWire. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  122. ^ Desowitz, Bill (November 13, 2018). "'Alita: Battle Angel' Preview: How Weta Escaped from the Uncanny Valley". IndieWire. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  123. ^ McClintock, Carolyn Giardina,Pamela; Giardina, Carolyn; McClintock, Pamela (May 16, 2022). "'Avatar 2' Renews Push for 3D Format in Movie Theaters". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 4, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  124. ^ Nordine, Michael (October 30, 2016). "James Cameron Pushing for 3D Advances and Higher Frame Rates for 'Avatar' Sequels". IndieWire. Archived from the original on October 31, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  125. ^ Kelly, Stephen (August 21, 2017). "James Cameron on Terminator 2, Avatar and the future of cinema". Wired UK. Archived from the original on February 20, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  126. ^ "Guillermo del Toro praises Avatar 2 and calls it 'a staggering achievement', fans react to film's first review". Hindustan Times. November 25, 2022.
  127. ^ Chestang, Raphael (June 24, 2015). "How James Horner Created the Unforgettable Titanic Theme Song, 'My Heart Will Go On'". Entertainment Tonight. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  128. ^ "Simon Franglen to Compose Music for James Cameron's 'Avatar' Sequels". Filmmusicreporter.com. Film Music Reporter. December 17, 2019. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  129. ^ "Jon Landau on Instagram". @jonplandau - via Instagram. August 30, 2021. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021. Wanted to officially announce that Simon Franglen will be composing the score for the Avatar Sequels.
  130. ^ a b Libbey, Dirk (August 30, 2021). "Avatar 2 Announces A Big Change Behind The Scenes And It Sounds Exciting". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on August 30, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  131. ^ McCall, Kevin (July 29, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water' Producer Shares Behind the Scenes Image of Simon Franglen Composing the Score". Collider. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  132. ^ a b Aswad, Jem (December 11, 2022). "The Weeknd to Release 'Nothing Is Lost,' Theme Song From 'Avatar: The Way of Water'". Variety. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  133. ^ "'Avatar: The Way of Water' to Feature Original Song by Simon Franglen & Zoe Saldana". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  134. ^ Legaspi, Aletha. "The Weeknd Hints at New Music for 'Avatar' in Teaser Clip". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  135. ^ a b Herren, Parker (December 15, 2022). "Inside Disney's 'Avatar' Marketing Strategy—reviving the franchise 13 years later". Ad Age. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  136. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy; D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 27, 2022). "'Avatar 2' Gets A Title, With 3D Teaser Trailer Shown At CinemaCon". Deadline. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  137. ^ Ryan, Patrick (April 29, 2022). "Check out the breathtaking first teaser trailer for James Cameron's 'Avatar: The Way of Water'". USA Today. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  138. ^ Scott, Ryan (March 22, 2022). "Superhero Bits: Doctor Strange 2 To Conjure Avatar 2 Trailer, Bella Thorne Wants To Play Lady Deadpool & More". /Film. Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  139. ^ Brail, Nathaniel (May 3, 2022). "Avatar 2: The Way Of Water Trailer Details Revealed in Advance of Doctor Strange 2 Premiere". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  140. ^ Oddo, Marco Vito (May 9, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water' Trailer Reveals the Long-Awaited Sequel to James Cameron's Sci-Fi Epic". Collider. Valnet, Inc. Archived from the original on May 9, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  141. ^ McClintock, Pamela (May 11, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water' Teaser Trailer Nabs Huge 148.6M Views on First Day". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  142. ^ McClintock, Pamela (May 10, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water' Teaser Trailer Nabs Huge 148.6M Views on First Day". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  143. ^ Christian Holub (May 9, 2022). "Breaking down the images and implications of the 'Avatar: Way of Water' trailer". EW.com. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  144. ^ "James Cameron Proves 'Avatar: The Way of Water' Actually Exists With a New Trailer". GQ. April 28, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  145. ^ "Avatar 2 trailer: prepare to be swept away by boredom". the Guardian. May 10, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  146. ^ "Avatar 2's first trailer isn't the explosive statement of intent we wanted – review". The Independent. May 9, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  147. ^ Burlingame, Russ (June 28, 2022). "Disney Edited Avatar: The Way of Water Trailer for Lightyear Screenings". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  148. ^ Taylor, Drew (June 28, 2022). "Avatar: The Way of Water Teaser Trailer Edited for Lightyear". The Wrap. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  149. ^ Sharf, Zack (June 30, 2022). "'Avatar 2' Debuts First Look Photos of Kate Winslet's Na'vi Warrior: She's a 'Fearless Leader'". Variety. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  150. ^ "Four New LEGO 'Avatar' Sets Revealed at San Diego Comic-Con". Hypebeast. July 22, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  151. ^ Panaligan, E. J.; Vary, Adam B. (September 10, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water' Previews 3-D Footage to Close Out D23 Panel". Variety. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  152. ^ "Everything we learned about James Cameron's 'Avatar' sequel from new footage at D23". Los Angeles Times. September 10, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  153. ^ McCall, Kevin (September 9, 2022). "'Avatar' Set From McFarlane Toys Teased Ahead of D23". Collider. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  154. ^ McCall, Kevin (September 9, 2022). "'Avatar' Figures From McFarlane Toys Revealed at D23 Expo". Collider. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  155. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (September 23, 2022). "'Avatar' Rerelease Features Surprise 'Avatar: The Way Of Water' Footage". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  156. ^ Klissmman, Daniel (September 28, 2022). "Avatar Re-Release's End-Credits: All Avatar 2 Footage & Reveals Explained". ScreenRant. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  157. ^ Reul, Katie (November 2, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water' Official Trailer Unveils Stunning New Footage of Pandora, Teases an Epic War". Variety. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  158. ^ "James Cameron releases extended trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water". The Guardian. November 2, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  159. ^ Jenna, Anderson (November 21, 2022). "Avatar: The Way of Water Releases New Character Posters". ComicBook. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  160. ^ Lussier, Germain (November 22, 2022). "New Avatar 2 Trailer: James Cameron Brings Us Back to Pandora". Gizmodo. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  161. ^ Massoto, Erick (December 2, 2022). "New 'Avatar: The Way of Water' Footage Revealed 18 Minutes of Different Storylines at CCXP". Collider. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  162. ^ Albers, Caitlin (December 2, 2022). "Disney Teases Avatar: The Way Of Water At CCXP With 18 Minutes Of Footage". Looper. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  163. ^ "Disney & Avatar Announce "Keep Our Oceans Amazing" Global Campaign To Save Marine Life". globalgrind.com. November 17, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  164. ^ a b McCall, Kevin (October 19, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water' Art Book Sets December Release". Collider. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  165. ^ "Fox & James Cameron Announce 'Avatar' Novels Based On Movie & Upcoming Sequels". Deadline Hollywood. August 22, 2013. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  166. ^ Anderton, Joe (February 7, 2019). "James Cameron confirms those weird Avatar sequel title rumours are true". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  167. ^ Mzimba, Lizo. "Avatar: The Way of Water world premiere takes place in London". BBC. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  168. ^ Faughnder, Ryan (December 14, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water' won't save movie theaters. But here's how it can help". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  169. ^ Buckley, Thomas; Gillette, Felix (November 30, 2022). "The Avatar Sequel Is a Make-or-Break Moment for Disney's $71 Billion Fox Deal". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  170. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 27, 2022). "'Avatar 2' Gets Title, 3D Teaser Unveiled -CinemaCon". Deadline. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  171. ^ Galuppo, Mia (March 10, 2017). "'Avatar 2' Won't Hit Theaters In 2018, James Cameron Says". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  172. ^ Welk, Brian (May 7, 2019). "Three 'Star Wars' Films Added to Disney Release Slate Through 2026 (The titles follow the release of "Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker" this December)". TheWrap. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  173. ^ Williams, Trey (May 7, 2019). "Disney Pushes 'Avatar' Sequels Release Dates as Much as 2 Years". TheWrap. Archived from the original on May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  174. ^ Maine, Samantha (May 30, 2017). "James Cameron isn't worried about the gap between Avatar movies". NME. Archived from the original on July 1, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  175. ^ "'Avatar: The Way of Water' Lands China Theatrical Release". Variety. November 22, 2022.
  176. ^ D'Alessandro, Bruce Haring,Anthony; Haring, Bruce; D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 29, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way Of Water' Will Be Three Hours Plus In Run-Time, But Final Length Still Undetermined". Deadline. Retrieved October 31, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  177. ^ Sharf, Zack (July 5, 2022). "James Cameron Tells Off 'Avatar' Haters, Defends Three-Hour 'Avatar 2' Runtime: 'Get Up and Go Pee'". Variety Magazine. Retrieved July 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  178. ^ Shoard, Catherine (July 6, 2022). "James Cameron defends three-hour Avatar sequel: 'I don't want whining'". The Guardian. Retrieved July 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  179. ^ "Long Range Box Office Forecast: Blumhouse's M3GAN Tracking for a Solid 2023 Lead Off, Plus the Latest Avatar: The Way of Water Projections". Boxoffice Pro. December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  180. ^ "Avatar 2 Needs To Break All-Time Box Office Records To Be A Success". Screen Rant. November 22, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  181. ^ "Avatar: The Way of Water". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  182. ^ "Avatar: The Way of Water Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  183. ^ a b c Berardinelli, James. "Avatar: The Way of Water". ReelViews. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  184. ^ Uhlich, Keith (December 13, 2022). "Avatar: The Way of Water Review: An Exhaustingly Splendid Return to Pandora". Slant Magazine. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  185. ^ a b Gleiberman, Owen (December 13, 2022). "'Avatar: The Way of Water' Review: It's Even More Eye-Popping Than 'Avatar,' but James Cameron's Epic Sequel Has No More Dramatic Dimension". Variety. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  186. ^ Sims, David (December 13, 2022). "Avatar: The Way of Water Puts Most Modern Blockbusters to Shame". The Atlantic. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  187. ^ Greenblatt, Leah (December 13, 2022). "Avatar: The Way of Water review: A whole blue world, bigger and bolder than the first". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  188. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (December 13, 2022). "Avatar: The Way of Water review – a soggy, twee, trillion-dollar screensaver". The Guardian. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  189. ^ LaSalle, Mick (December 13, 2022). "Review: James Cameron's ego turns 'Avatar: The Way of Water' into endless torture". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  190. ^ Collin, Robbie (December 13, 2022). "Avatar 2 is finally here – and it's like being waterboarded with turquoise cement". The Telegraph. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  191. ^ Shackleton, Liz (December 15, 2022). "The Banshees Of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once Head Nominations For Australia's AACTA International Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  192. ^ Hammond, Pete (December 9, 2022). "AFI Awards Film: Avatar, Top Gun, Elvis, Fabelmans And More Make Cut; Streamers Shut Out". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  193. ^ Anderson, Erik (December 15, 2022). "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Woman King lead 2023 Black Reel Awards nominations". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  194. ^ Tallerico, Brian (December 12, 2022). "Everything Everywhere All at Once Leads Chicago Film Critics Nominations". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  195. ^ Tallerico, Brian (December 14, 2022). "The Banshees of Inisherin Named Best Picture by Chicago Film Critics Association". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  196. ^ Verhoeven, Beatrice (December 14, 2022). "Everything Everywhere All At Once Leads 2023 Critics Choice Awards Film Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  197. ^ Anderson, Erik (December 14, 2022). "2022 Florida Film Critics Circle nominations: Everything Everywhere All At Once leads with 11". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  198. ^ Lewis, Hilary (December 12, 2022). "Golden Globes: List of Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  199. ^ Davis, Clayton (August 2, 2022). "Golden Trailer Awards: The Batman and Top Gun: Maverick Among Nominees, Disney Leads for Studios (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  200. ^ "Winners of the 22nd Annual Golden Trailer Awards" (PDF). Golden Trailer Awards. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  201. ^ Anderson, Erik (December 15, 2022). "6th Hollywood Critics Association Film Awards nominations: Everything Everywhere All At One, The Banshees of Inisherin lead". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  202. ^ Anderson, Erik (December 8, 2022). "Everything Everywhere All At Once, Top Gun: Maverick lead inaugural Hollywood Critics Association Creative Arts Awards nominations". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  203. ^ Anderson, Erik (June 28, 2022). "Everything Everywhere All At Once leads Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) Midseason Awards nominations". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  204. ^ Anderson, Erik (July 1, 2022). "Everything Everywhere All at Once sweeps HCA Midseason Film Awards, Austin Butler named Best Actor". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  205. ^ Anderson, Erik (November 17, 2022). "Rihanna, Billy Eichner, Elvis, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio top Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) winners". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on November 18, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  206. ^ Davis, Clayton (December 11, 2022). "Tár and Everything Everywhere All at Once Tie for Best Picture at Los Angeles Film Critics Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  207. ^ Davis, Clayton; Moreau, Jordan (December 8, 2022). "Top Gun: Maverick Named Best Picture by National Board of Review". Variety. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  208. ^ Butler, Karen (December 11, 2022). "Banshees of Inisherin wins big at New York Film Critics Online". United Press International. Archived from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  209. ^ Anderson, Erik (December 8, 2022). "Top Gun: Maverick leads International Press Academy's 27th Satellite Awards nominations". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  210. ^ Anderson, Erik (December 11, 2022). "The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once lead 2022 St. Louis Film Critics Association nominations". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  211. ^ Anderson, Erik (December 12, 2022). "Washington DC Critics go for Everything Everywhere All At Once, Glass Onion, The Banshees of Inisherin". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  212. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 25, 2017). "'Avatar' Starts Production Today On Four Consecutive Sequels At Over $1 Billion Budget". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  213. ^ "David Thewlis Updates on Avatar 2 & Avatar 3 & working with James Cameron". HeyUGuys via YouTube. February 7, 2018. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  214. ^ Singer, Matt (October 29, 2018). "'Avatar 2' Doesn't Come Out For 2 Years, But Sigourney Weaver Is Already Working on 'Avatar 4'". ScreenCrush. Archived from the original on November 27, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  215. ^ Cavanaugh, Patrick (October 29, 2018). "'Alien 5': Sigourney Weaver Says James Cameron Liked Blomkamp's Idea". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on November 27, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  216. ^ Pearson, Ben (October 29, 2018). "'Avatar 4' and '5' Already Filming, Loses Papyrus Font, Sigourney Weaver Talks About Shooting Underwater". /Film. Archived from the original on November 27, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  217. ^ Hough, Jack (January 8, 2019). "Disney's Bob Iger Talks Streaming, Park Plans, and Learning From Kodak". Barron's. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  218. ^ "Alita: Battle Angel - The Cast & Filmmakers discuss making the Manga epic". HeyUGuys via YouTube. February 4, 2019. Archived from the original on July 13, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2019.

External links