Avatar: The Way of Water is certainly making waves among critics, with James Cameron's science fiction epic already certified fresh on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.
At the time of writing, The Way of Water holds an approval rating of 82 percent from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the same score its 2009 predecessor holds on the website. However, the Avatar sequel has only 156 reviews counted thus far as opposed to the 332 reviews that count towards the first Avatar's score. Critics have so far praised the highly anticipated sequel for its emotional weight, visuals, characters and direction while noting that the film can feel overstuffed at times.
Box office analysts are currently projecting an estimated $525 million worldwide opening for Avatar: The Way of Water, with $175 million coming from North America and the remaining $350 million from international markets. If the long-awaited sequel opens north of $154 million, it will double the $77M opening the original film earned in 2009. However, despite the strong box office projections, Cameron has stated that The Way of Water will need to be "the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history" to earn back its estimated $400 million budget and "break even."
Avatar 2 Lands Nomination for Golden Globes' Best Picture
In addition to becoming certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, Avatar: The Way of Water scored a nomination for Best Picture - Drama at the upcoming 80th Golden Globes. The film will be competing in the category against fellow 2022 heavy-hitters Top Gun: Maverick, Elvis, The Fabelmans and Tár. Cameron also landed a nomination for Best Director - Motion Picture for the sequel. The first Avatar film was nominated for and won both of those categories at the 67th Golden Globe Awards back in 2010. To see if history will repeat itself, Avatar fans will have to tune in to NBC or Peacock on Jan. 10, 2023, to watch the 80th Golden Globes ceremony.
Set over a decade after Avatar, the upcoming sequel follows Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) as they navigate the turbulent alien planet of Pandora while raising their five children. Sigourney Weaver, who originally appeared in the first film as Dr. Grace Augustine, will play their adoptive teenage daughter Kiri, with Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss and Jack Champion portraying their other children. The Way of Water also stars Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, Matt Gerald, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement and Brendan Cowell.
Avatar: The Way of Water opens in theaters on Dec. 16.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes