Director James Cameron was hesitant to create the sequel film Avatar: The Way of Water, due to the original's record-breaking success.
In an interview with Empire Magazine, Cameron reflected on his thought process going into creating a sequel to Avatar. "I had to think long and hard whether I even wanted to make another Avatar film because it was kind of ours to lose," Cameron explained. "When you’ve done something that’s been that transcendent in terms of success, do you really want to go try and do that again? There’s a lot of pressure on it. I thought about it for a good two years before we finally made a deal."
The original Avatar movie was released in 2009 and became the highest-grossing film of all time. Aside from being the king of the box office, Avatar also received critical acclaim, nabbing Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects.
The film's setting on a lush, tropical alien world paired with groundbreaking 3D technology offered moviegoers a uniquely immersive theater experience. Like the original film, Avatar: The Way of Water is expected to push the limits on movie-making technology, featuring extensive underwater footage and state-of-the-art CGI. It was filmed back to back with a second sequel, which has not yet been titled. Soon after, Cameron signed on to make a fourth and fifth Avatar movie.
After 13 years, the highly anticipated Avatar: The Way of Water released its first trailer just seven months before its theatrical release. The trailer received over 148 million views on YouTube in its first 24 hours, proving that interest in the franchise still exists and suggesting that Avatar 2 will be another mega-hit at the box office.
Avatar tells the story of paraplegic marine Jake Sully, played by Sam Worthington, who uses an organic alien body known as an avatar to safely traverse the moon of Pandora. Sully ends up adopting the local alien culture and falling in love with Neytiri, a native warrior princess played by Zoe Saldaña, as he struggles to carry out his original mission of aiding the exploitation of Pandora.
Avatar: The Way of Water takes place 10 years after the events of Avatar and focuses on Jake, Neytiri and their children on Pandora. Worthington and Saldaña are returning to reprise their roles alongside Avatar co-stars, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang.
Avatar: The Way of Water will release in theaters worldwide on December 16, 2022
Source: Empire