Disney declares Nov. 21 Avatar Day and celebrates by dropping the final trailer for James Cameron's long-awaited Avatar: The Way of Water, scheduled to arrive on ESPN during Monday Night Football.
In addition to the new occasion, Disney also unveiled a new augmented reality Lens for Snapchat that turns any Snapchatter into a Na'vi. Every Snapchatter will get a personalized experience. The Lens uses machine learning to transform users' mouths, eyes, head shape, hair and skin in real-time. The original Avatar, which premiered in 2009, is also once again available on Disney+.
The first trailer for Cameron's Avatar sequel was released earlier this month and teased Jake Sully and Neytiri's upcoming fight for their family and for Pandora. Once again, the Na'vi will be facing off against human antagonists, only this time it appears the alien world's oceans will serve as the terrain for the battle. Alongside actor Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana, Avatar: The Way of Water will once again feature actor Stephen Lang as Colonel Quaritch, though not in the same mech unit as he fought in before.
Returning Avatar Stars
Still from the upcoming film previously revealed Quaritch will be hunting and fighting Jake and Neytiri's family with the use of a Na'vi body, though it's uncertain at this point how he was able to acquire it or how he survived the seemingly fatal confrontation with Neytiri at the end of the 2009 film.
Lang is not the only member of the original cast returning as a Na'vi. Actor Sigourney Weaver, who played Dr. Augustine in Avatar, is returning as a brand new character: Jake and Neytiri's adoptive teenage daughter Kiri. Cameron touched on Weaver's performance in the past, stating, "Sigourney just became younger... She looked younger, she had more energy, and she never quite stepped out of Kiri for our whole capture period. She had a glow on her face and lightness in her step and a fun spirit."
Will the Avatar Franchise Survive?
The Way of Water was filmed back to back with the third instalment in the franchise and will play an integral role in determining its future. Cameron previously explained that, despite the fact that he has the fourth and fifth films planned out, he is willing to scrap those projects if audiences show they aren't interested in Pandora and the Na'vi anymore.
The filmmaker explained, "We're in a different world now than we were when I wrote this stuff, even. It's the one-two punch — the pandemic and streaming. Or, conversely, maybe we'll remind people what going to the theater is all about. This film definitely does that. The question is: how many people give a s*** now?"
Avatar: The Way of Water is set to hit theaters on Dec. 16.
Source: YouTube