Director James Cameron for ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’
Preview:
James Cameron has talked about the future of ‘Avatar’.
He is working on the third now and has ideas for sixth and seventh entries.
The third movie is due in theaters in 2025.
James Cameron is still going full speed ahead on his ‘Avatar’ franchise. The sci-fi films, whose first two entries sit on the list of the first and third highest-grossing movies of all time, have sequels planned for years to come, with the third currently being shepherded through post-production.
And now, talking to People magazine at the Saturn Awards, Cameron has talked up the even further potential future of the movies.
Cameron is clearly committed to making more movies, but even he has his limits.
This is what he told the magazine about future entries…
“We’re fully written through movie five, and I’ve got ideas for six and seven, although I’ll probably be handing the baton on at that point. I mean, mortality catches up. But I mean, we’re enjoying what we’re doing. We’re loving it. We get to work with great people.”
Given that Cameron will be 76 by the time the fifth movie hits theaters, not to mention the long production process each entry requires, he’d likely be into his 80s by the time a sixth or seventh movie arrived.
Which is not to say he won’t somehow find a way to download his consciousness into a robotic body (though that might get a little too close to ‘Terminator’ for comfort) and keep going.
Still, Cameron has shown willingness to hand over projects in the past –– he was developing ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ for years but had Robert Rodriguez direct it as he was focusing on ‘Avatar’s sequels. So we’re sure he’s already started the process of looking for an heir to the ‘Avatar’ empire.
James Cameron on why he keeps making ‘Avatar’ movies
Cameron was his typically candid self when addressing the issue of fan concerns that he’s effectively dedicated the rest of his life to one franchise (even if the movies themselves do end up being wildly successful). He referenced other famous movie and TV series as his explanation.
Here’s what he said:
“People are always asking us, ‘So why did you just keep working in the same…’ Why did Lucas keep working in the same thing? Why did Roddenberry keep working in the same thing? Because when you connect with people, why would you squander that? Why would you start over with something else that might not connect?”
When will the next ‘Avatar’ movies be in theaters?
‘Avatar 3’ is set to be released on December 19th, 2025. The fourth is scheduled for December 21st, 2029, and ‘Avatar 5’ on December 19th, 2031.
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ launches the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of traveling to Manhattan Beach, California to the offices of Lightstorm Entertainment to speak with producer Jon Landau about the digital release of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ along with several other members of the press.
We had a chance to look through the Lightstorm Entertainment Museum, as well as watch bonus material from the digital release. We also spoke to Jon Landau about the film and the future of the franchise, and watched a camera demo presentation from recent Oscar Award winner Richard Baneham.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ statues at the Lightstorm Entertainment Museum.
Lightstorm Entertainment Museum and VFX Tour
Our visit began with a tour of Lightstorm’s museum, which in addition to housing props and visual reference pieces from the ‘Avatar’ series, but it also included memorabilia from ‘Aliens,‘ ‘Alita: Battle Angel,’ ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day,’ and ‘Titanic.’
Alien Queen from James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ at the Lightstorm Entertainment Museum.
Some of the pieces that stood out include a T-100 from ‘T2,’ the Queen and Ripley’s exosuit from ‘Aliens,’ a replica of the ship from ‘Titanic,’ as well as ‘The Heart of the Ocean’ necklace worn by Kate Winslet, and Jon Landau’s Oscar for Best Picture from ‘Titanic.’
“The Heart of the Ocean” from James Cameron’s ‘Titanic’ at the Lightstorm Entertainment Museum.
Before speaking with Jon Landau, we had a chance to experience a camera demo presentation from recent Oscar winner Richard Baneham, who explained how the underwater scenes were shot for the movie.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’s Oscar winning visual effects supervisor Richard Baneham.
What are the Bonus Features on the Digital Release of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water?’
Next, we had a chance to screen some of the bonus material from the digital release. The bonus features will be included in a section called ‘Inside Pandora’s Box,’ and will include a series of featurettes on the challenges facing cast and crew as filmmakers devise new technologies to push the limits of cinema with ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’
You can read about the different featurettes below:
Building the World of Pandora– James Cameron and a team of talented artists combine years of research with their design skills to build the world of Pandora with new characters, creatures, indigenous clans, underwater environments and the take-no-prisoners hard-tech world of the RDA.
Capturing Pandora– James Cameron’s approach to performance capture has the cast performing in a volume rigged with infrared cameras to capture their movement, and head rig cameras to capture emotion on their faces with only the boundaries of imagination to limit them.
The Undersea World of Pandora– Co-production designer Dylan Cole and his team conceive of the marine creatures required for ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ while James Cameron and his stunt team devise extraordinary means to bring those creatures to life in a performance capture tank.
The Challenges of Pandora’s Waters– James Cameron tackles the “non-trivial challenge” of performance capture above and below the water’s surface, utilizing a wave machine and current generator to reproduce ocean conditions, and underwater vehicles to replicate creature movement.
Pandora’s Returning Characters– James Cameron reunites with his returning cast – Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang. Together they discuss the amazing evolution of their characters in ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’
Pandora’s Next Generation– Meet the talented young newcomers who have been cast as the next generation of Na’vi and follow them through the adventure of making ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’
Spider’s Web– James Cameron introduced the human character of Spider into the fabric of Pandora – thus creating a host of technological challenges on set…and an incredible journey for the young actor, Jack Champion.
Becoming Na’vi– The ‘Avatar’ cast is immersed in the culture of the indigenous Na’vi, living off the land in the Hawaiian rainforest and training in a multitude of disciplines in preparation for their roles.
The Reef People of Pandora– In true James Cameron-style, the Metkayina reef clan has been developed with great attention to detail, bearing unique evolutionary traits and a culture – with new dwellings, new clothes and different way of life – all a result of living off the ocean.
Bringing Pandora to Life– Once James Cameron completes his virtual production process, every sequence is turned over to Wētā FX to bring Pandora to life – with unprecedented advancements in facial performance, environments and making CG water look real.
The RDA Returns to Pandora– Co-production designer Ben Procter and his team present an armada of new vehicles and human technologies that the RDA brings to Pandora – in concept design and with practical builds.
The New Characters of Pandora– Meet the important new characters of the ‘Avatar’ saga played by Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell and Jemaine Clement.
The Sounds of Pandora– Hear how James Cameron worked with composer Simon Franglen to create the distinctive music of ‘The Way of Water’ while building on James Horner’s brilliant score for ‘Avatar,’ and learn how Chris Boyes created the immersive sounds of Pandora.
New Zealand – Pandora’s Home– The production of the ‘Avatar’ sequels is so thoroughly ensconced in New Zealand that James Cameron considers The Way of Water a “New Zealand film.” Hear reflections from the cast and crew, including the remarkable New Zealand crew, on making the film.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’s Oscar winning producer Jon Landau.
Jon Landau Q&A
Finally, we had a chance to speak with Oscar winning producer Jon Landau, along with other members of the press, about ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ working with James Cameron and the future of the franchise.
Can you talk about your experience working with James Cameron over the years, and particularly with ‘Avatar: The Way of Water?’
Jon Landau: I think that I got to know Jim as a studio executive. I was the suit when he was doing ‘True Lies.’ But my objective was always the same as his objective, make the best movie. I didn’t come at it with a different agenda. That’s how I think we look at it. I think that what has developed over the 30 years, and Jim calls it a marriage that we’ve had, is we divide and conquer. I think there are certain things that I can’t do. Jim’s an engineer and I’m not. I don’t profess to be. But there are things as it relates to Wētā and problem solving that Jim would allow me to go tackle and take something much further down the line for him. We even created what we called FLFs, First Look Finals, which Jim was amazed at when that started to happen, where we would present something to him and he was able to sign off on it because we solved some of these other problems. So I think one of the keys is communicating. I think one of the keys is identifying when you have a problem, because sometimes you don’t recognize that. On the first film, there was a day we were doing performance capture and we did something and we stopped to name it. Because if we ever wanted to do it again, we needed to be able to refer to it. We couldn’t go, “Oh, that thing we did 12 weeks ago.” So we named something. So it’s taking that time and saying, “Okay, let’s stop for a minute and solve this.”
Can you talk about the scheduling process on a movie like this?
JL: So the scheduling, it’s really interesting. The first thing we had to figure out because we were not just filming ‘Avatar 2,’ we were actually filming and capturing for ‘2,’ ‘3,’ and the first act of movie ‘4.’ So, how do you do that? What are the things you do? The first thing we did, if you ever have seen a script, the scene numbers usually start at one and they end whatever number the scene is. I came up with the idea that our scene numbers for this movie would start at 2,001. The two at the beginning of 2,000 would tell us it’s movie ‘2.’ If you look at a script for movie ‘3,’ it’s 3,001. That way we would know, “Okay, what scene?” Because you couldn’t say, “We’re working on scene 56.” Of what movie? So we had to do that. Then we had to say, “Okay, let’s figure out what needs to be shot in what order.” We quickly realized that we needed to do performance capture before we could do live-action because it impacted the live-action filming. If we knew what the CG character was supposed to do, we would then line it up and do that. So we started out with the scheduling of the performance capture. There, we had a lot of flexibility because we weren’t limited to saying, “You’re on a set.” Because our sets are just these gray scale pieces and they could be very easy to reconstitute and the lighting went into it. So we tried to do that in two different waves. One is non-wet work, because our tank wasn’t built yet, and we tried to do that in as much continuity order for the cast as we could. Then we dove literally and figuratively into the tank work. Then we did some more capture work. When we went to do the live-action, we then treated it more like a traditional movie and said, “Okay, if we are in this set that’s the screening room, let’s shoot out every scene, whether it’s in movie ‘2,’ ‘3’ or that first part of ‘4,’ and knock that off right at the beginning.” So we did it logistically that way when we went down to New Zealand for our live-action filming.
(L to R) Jack Champion and Stephen Lang in director James Cameron’s ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’
As a producer, how do you budget a project as large as this?
JL: Look, I think you learn to budget based on experience. We sit there and we know there’s uncertainty. So we sit there and say, “Here’s what we know. We’re going to put a fudge factor on top of it.” Look, when we went and did ‘Titanic,’ and this was a big learning lesson for us on ‘Titanic,’ there was a time where in pre-production we were under a lot of pressure not to spend money and we didn’t spend money on engineering the ship being raised and then tilted. We put it in a ballpark number. We were way off. So one of the things we now really try to do as we budget is bring in people early on and put in money in our early development budget and say, “Okay, we need an engineer.” Perfect example. On ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ we brought in engineers to design our tank before we signed off on a budget. We didn’t build the tank, we didn’t buy the steel, but it was engineered and it put us on a much sounder ground. So I think it’s about going and doing your homework and recognizing that you don’t have all the answers and not to be overly optimistic and say, “Here’s what we think it’s going to be.” When you look at our movies, these movies are challenging and they’re big in scale and scope and we acknowledge that upfront.
Can you talk about the future of the franchise?
JL: So we have ‘3,’ ‘4,’ and ‘5’ written right now. We didn’t set out to make a sequel. We set out to make a movie that happened to be based on a world and characters that were created, almost like you look at the first ‘Avatar’ as if it was a novel. We’re now doing something that was inspired by that. In these three more scripts we have, we believe that each movie is a standalone film that comes to its own story resolution, its own emotional conclusion. I don’t think people need to have seen the first ‘Avatar’ to enjoy ‘Way of Water.’ That’s how we want each one of these movies to be. Now, I believe that Pandora and these characters and people that we will continue to meet have many other stories to tell. From a new cast standpoint, each movie we’ll introduce new biomes and new cultures. Because we’re introducing new cultures, we have new characters. But just because we are introducing a new one doesn’t mean we’ve lost an old one. They will stay with us. So the sea people, they’ll have different roles, the Metkayina, will be in and out of these stories, but they are a part of the canon that we’ve created. But we’re going to meet at least two new clans in the next movie, culturally, and go on and on as we continue that.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ will be available exclusively to purchase on Digital March 28th.
Have you already shot ‘Avatar 4?’
JL: The first act. Because truth be told, there’s a time cut after the end of the first act and we needed to get all the kids before they got older and shoot all that out. We still have roles to cast in ‘4’ and ‘5,’ in the latter part.
You’ve said that you learn on each movie how to make the next one better, what did you learn from making ‘The Way of Water’ that you will apply to the next project?
JL: The visual effects side of things is never revolutionary, it’s evolutionary. Something that we are doing tomorrow is going to be better than if we’re doing it today because we’re learning more. Wētā FX is learning more. ILM, who we work with, is learning more. So we will continue to push and to strive to create an even higher product. One of the things that people say is, “What type of people do you want to hire?” I go back to people who don’t want to rest on the laurels of their past. People who are not afraid to push the boundaries. When you do that, people have to be prepared to fail. Because when you’ve gone down a path that’s never been traveled, failure needs to be an option and we need a system that’s going to support them.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ will be available exclusively to purchase on Digital March 28th.
Other Films By James Cameron and Lightstorm Entertainment:
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ will be available exclusively to purchase on Digital March 28th from Lightstorm Entertainment and 20th Century Studios.
Directed by James Cameron, and written by Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, the film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Kate Winslet.
Watch Moviefone’s interviews with James Cameron and the cast of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ below:
(L to R) Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan pose backstage as the Oscar® winners for Actress and Actor in a Supporting Role during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Given the events of last year’s memorable-for-the-wrong-reasons Academy Awards, everyone was likely either hoping for a buzzy reprise or (on the producers’ front) a quiet evening. As it happens, the show tended towards the latter.
And the viral, memorable moments are mostly going to be remembered for being on the positive side –– Michelle Yeoh’s historic Best Actress win, Ke Huy Quan and Brendan Fraser successfully completing their trophy tours on the biggest stage (with typically emotional responses and standing ovations) and ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ proving to be an awards powerhouse still.
Nominated for 11 Oscars, the indie sci-fi film might not have seemed to be potential Oscar bait; could a movie with dildo fights and hot dog fingers really win over stuffy voters? But win them over it did, taking home seven awards, including the aforementioned acting triumphs, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture. Its cast and crew were universally thrilled with their recognition and pulsed with joy.
The ceremony around those blips of happy success was more mundane, feeling like a safe overcorrection in the wake of Slap gate to ensure things ran smoothly. They did (the show actually finished early), but even with Jimmy Kimmel drawing from the book of Oscar Hosting 101 (he arrived on stage under a parachute having spoofed ‘Maverick’) it was all blandly factory produced.
Presenter banter was slight and cheesy (enlivened by Elizabeth Banks sharing the stage with an actor in a bear costume and Hugh Grant telling the audience he’s “basically a scrotum” in a gag about moisturizer use while standing next to ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ co-star Andie MacDowell), and things ran on rails. The musical performances ran the gamut from energetic (‘RRR’s “Naatu Naatu”, which would go on to claim the prize) to seeming more like they were set to be performed in a coffee shop (Lady Gaga’s muted, yet still effective “Hold my Hand” which ended with a sweet tribute to original ‘Top Gun’ director Tony Scott).
It might not have been the most memorable show, but some of the moments will linger longer than the sting of any slap.
(L to R) Andie MacDowell and Hugh Grant backstage during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
(L to R) Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Quan pose backstage with their Oscar® for Directing during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Ke Huy Quan poses backstage with the Oscar® for Actor in a Supporting Role during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Sarah Polley backstage with the Oscar® for Adapted Screenplay during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Guillermo del Toro poses backstage with the Oscar® for Animated Feature Film during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Ruth E. Carter backstage with the Oscar® for Costume Design during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
SOUND
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’
‘The Batman’
‘Elvis’ ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ – WINNER
ORIGINAL SCORE
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ – WINNER
‘Babylon’
‘The Banshees of Inisherin
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’
‘The Fabelmans’
ORIGINAL SONG
‘Woman Talking’: “Applause” – Diane Warren
‘Top Gun: Maverick’: “Hold My Hand” – Lady Gaga
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’: “Lift Me Up” – Rihanna ‘RRR’: “Naatu Naatu” – WINNER
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once: “This Is A Life” – Son Lux, Mitski, David Byrne
Oscar® nominee Rihanna arrives on the red carpet of the 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’
‘The Batman’
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
‘Elvis’ ‘The Whale’ – WINNER
PRODUCTION DESIGN
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ – WINNER
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’
‘Babylon’
‘Elvis’
‘The Fabelmans’
FILM EDITING
‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
‘Elvis’ ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ – WINNER
‘TÁR’
‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Oscar® nominee Steven Spielberg arrives with guests on the red carpet of The 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
VISUAL EFFECTS
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ – WINNER
‘The Batman’
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
‘Top Gun: Maverick’
The 95th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 12th and with it will come the end of the 2023 award season.
Following Will Smith‘s “slap heard around the world” at last year’s Oscar ceremony, the Academy had hoped to get back to normal this year but has already had to deal with the controversy surrounding Andrea Riseborough’s surprise nomination for Best Actress for her performance in ‘To Leslie.’
With an unusual number of box office hits nominated for Best Picture this year including ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ Top Gun: Maverick,’ and ‘Elvis,’ and an awards season that has seen several frontrunners emerge but some categories still too close to call, Sunday’s ceremony promises to be an entertaining event, once again hosted by the returning Jimmy Kimmel.
Below are our predictions for who will win Oscars on Sunday at the 95th Academy Awards. We are only breaking down our predictions for the six major categories, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.
Let’s Begin!
BEST PICTURE
(L to R) Stephanie Hsu, Michelle Yeoh, and Ke Huy Quan in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ Photo Credit: Allyson Riggs.
In the Best Picture race, basically three frontrunners have emerged, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ and ‘The Fabelmans,’ with ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ and to a lesser degree ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ still in the mix.
Award season began with ‘Fabelmans’ and ‘Banshees’ both winning Best Picture at the Golden Globes, but since then ‘Everything Everywhere’ has definitely taken the lead winning Best Picture from the Critics Choice, Hollywood Critics Association, Independent Spirit Awards, Screen Actors Guild, and the coveted Producers Guild Award, which is usually a pretty good precursor of who will win Best Picture at the Oscars.
It is worth mentioning that ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ won Best Picture at the BAFTA‘s, and it is not outside the realm of possibility that it could cause a surprise win, but given the Academy’s dislike for Netflix, I don’t think that will happen. And don’t forget ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ which has been given credit for saving the film industry, and it is possible that Tom Cruise, who would win his first Oscar ever as a producer, and longtime super producer Jerry Bruckheimer will be rewarded by the Academy for their contributions.
That being said, safe money is certainly still on ‘Everything Everywhere’ taking the top prize, and I would be very surprised if that doesn’t happen.
(L to R) Directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert on the set of A24’s ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ Photo Credit: Courtesy of A24.
Steven Spielberg began the award season winning Best Director from the Golden Globes, but since then The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) have emerged as the frontrunners winning Best Director from Critics Choice, HCA, Independent Spirit Awards, and the Director’s Guild, which usually correctly predicts the Oscars.
While Edward Berger won Best Director from the BAFTA’s for ‘All Quiet,’ the chances of him winning are very slim, and director Martin McDonagh’s Oscar night win will most likely come in the Best Original Screenplay category for ‘Banshees.’
The Daniels biggest competition is still living legend Spielberg, who is the only filmmaker ever to be nominated in 6 different decades, which is ironic since he had a hard time being accepted by the Academy early in his career (He wasn’t even nominated for ‘The Color Purple!’). The Academy may recognize Spielberg for his very personal work on ‘Fabelmans,’ which would be his forth Oscar win for Best Director, tying him with John Ford for most wins of all time.
Awards season started off with both Colin Farrell and Austin Butler winning Golden Globes for ‘Banshees’ and ‘Elvis,’ respectively. But since then Brendan Fraser has come on strong winning The Critic’s Choice, HCA, and SAG Awards for his performance in ‘The Whale.’
‘Banshees’ won big at the BAFTA’s, but Farrell still lost to Butler, basically eliminating his chances at the Oscars. With Butler’s BAFTA and Fraser’s SAG win, it’s really too close to call, but I feel Butler will most likely take the win.
Hollywood loves a good comeback story and Fraser’s move from 90’s action star to dramatic actor after several years of obscurity and personal issues is one that the Academy might not ignore. But Butler gave the superior performance, and if Rami Malek can win Best Actor for lip-syncing as Freddy Mercury in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ then Butler deserves the win for actually singing.
Who Will Win: Austin Butler – ‘Elvis’ Who Could Win: Brendan Fraser – ‘The Whale’
zOfEoqeaiXz0EfQpVRSyB7
BEST ACTRESS
Michelle Yeoh in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ Photo Credit: Courtesy of A24.
By far this is the closest race of the night as Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh are essentially in a dead heat. Both Blanchett and Yeoh started the season strong winning Golden Globes, then Blanchett took the Critics Choice and BAFTA’s, while Yeoh took home HCA, SAG, and Independent Spirit Awards honors.
If Yeoh wins, she will be the first Asian woman in history to win Best Actress, and if ‘Everything Everywhere’ goes big on Oscar night, as I think it will, that could help put the actress over the top. Personally, I am rooting for Yeoh to be rewarded for her incredible body of work, and the momentum seems to be on her side going into Sunday.
Who Will Win: Michelle Yeoh – ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’
Who Could Win: Cate Blanchett – ‘TÁR’
yPGqZX8TbqNGNNBaEfk2g6
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ke Huy Quan as Waymond Wang in A24’s ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’
If there has been any locked category this season it has definitely been in Best Supporting Actor as Ke Huy Quan has won almost every award there is to win including a Golden Globe, Critics Choice, HCA, Independent Spirit Awards and SAG.
Yes, Barry Keoghan won the BAFTA, but he is an Irish actor and the BAFTA’s tend to reward Europeans over Americans when they can, so I wouldn’t read too much into that.
Again, Hollywood loves a comeback story and no one (even Fraser) has a better one than Quan, who after becoming a child star thanks to ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom‘ and ‘The Goonies,’ had to leave acting altogether because of a lack of roles. The actor has returned in a big way, and especially if the movie has a good night, I completely expect Quan to win, which will make him only the second Asian actor in history to do so in this category after Haing S. Ngor‘s win in 1984 for ‘The Killing Fields.’
This may be the most interesting category of the night. After being the frontrunner all season and winning a Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and HCA, Bassett lost the BAFTA to Kerry Condon for ‘Banshees.’ More importantly, she lost the coveted SAG award to Jamie Lee Curtis for ‘Everything Everywhere,’ who hadn’t won an award all season, completely throwing this category into chaos.
Again, I wouldn’t read too much into Condon’s BAFTA win, but Curtis’ win should be troubling for Bassett, as the SAG Awards are usually a good predictor for the acting categories on Oscar night. However, both actresses have long and distinguished careers, are well respected amongst their peers, and frankly, deserve to win.
If Bassett wins, she will be only the 23 Black actor to ever win a competitive acting Oscar. She would also make history as the first actor ever to win an Oscar for a Marvel movie, and only the third actor overall to ever win for appearing in a superhero movie, after actors Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix both won for playing the Joker in ‘The Dark Knight‘ and ‘Joker,’ respectively.
If ‘Everything Everywhere’ has a really big night, Curtis could win in an upset, and she does seem to have more momentum coming off of her big SAG win.
But I think safe money is still on Bassett, who will not only win for her strong performance and the longevity of her career, but also for the memory of the late ‘Black Panther‘ star Chadwick Boseman. His last opportunity to win an Oscar was taken away by the Academy a few years ago when they awarded Anthony Hopkins for ‘The Father‘ over Boseman’s final performance in ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.‘ I think that too will factor in voter’s minds, wanting to right a wrong, and reward Bassett in his memory.
13 years after the first film’s release, Academy Award-winning director James Cameron takes the audience back to the world of Pandora and introduces a new tribe of Na’vi. The film sees the return of Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, and Stephen Lang.
Despite the long wait for its sequel, ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ was already smashing records on opening weekend. Soaring past Marvel’s ‘The Avengers‘ in domestic box office rankings, raking in $625.6 million. Needless to say, the 13 years gap between the first and second movies did not dampen the fans’ excitement for this film.
20076604
Just like the 2009 film, this installment also utilizes 3D. With updated technology, ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ is visually stunning, and looks even more vibrant and lifelike than its predecessor. Filming begin in 2017 and took over the course of 3 years, mainly due to the director wanting to film ‘Avatar 2’ and ‘3′ at the same time. The majority of ‘The Way Of Water’ took place underwater, requiring the cast and stunt team to film inside a 900,000-gallon tank.
Filming underwater made it difficult for the motion capture process because scuba gear often got in the way. So the actors received special training on how to hold their breath for an extended amount of time. Kate Winslet held her breath for an astonishing 7 minutes.
Cameron has plans for three more ‘Avatar‘ films. The third installment is set to release in 2024 with ‘Avatar 4‘ and ‘5‘ scheduled for a 2026 and 2028 release.
The official synopsis for ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ is thus:
“Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the extrasolar moon Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na’vi race to protect their home.”
It’s been over a decade since the events of the previous film, Jake and Neytiri have started a family – the eldest son Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), the second son Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), and the youngest daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). On top of the three children, they also have an adoptive daughter in Kiri (Sigourney Weaver). The family lived in peace until the Sky People returned to Pandora causing destruction and chaos. The family is uprooted, and forced to seek safety and shelter within the oceans of Pandora and the Metkayina tribe.
The sci-fi fantasy/adventure also sees Cliff Curtis as Metkayina Chief Tonowari and Kate Winslet (who reunites with the ‘Titanic‘ director after 26 years) as Ronal. The newly introduced tribe of Na’vi looks different than Neytiri and Jake, as they have larger and stronger tails built for swimming. We’re also introduced to many new creatures such as the tulkun, skimwing, and ilu.
Stephen Lang who played antagonist Colonel Miles Quaritch in the first film is back for the sequel as a different character (sort of).
You can still enjoy the movie on the big screening at your local theaters. The movie is available in various formats but it is an absolute treat to watch it in 3D if it’s available to you. Another great way to enjoy ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ is in IMAX, which will make you feel like you’re fully immersed in the world of Pandora.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ was released on December 16th, 2022, and has a total runtime of 3 hours and 12 minutes.
When Will ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Be Available To Stream Online?
‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ is currently only in theaters, but it will surely make its way to streaming services in the future. As this is a 20th Century Studio film it will definitely be available on Disney+ once it is released for streaming. Currently, you can watch the original film on Disney+.
The visionary director has had many of his films break box office records. The first ‘Avatar’ film opened to $77 million domestically on opening weekend in 2009. Now, it has grossed $749.7 million domestically and $2.7 billion worldwide. ‘The Way of Water’ opened to $134.1 million domestically and has grossed $625.6 since. It is currently the fourth-highest-grossing film worldwide of all time, has surpassed Marvel Studio’s ‘The Avengers’ ($1.5 billion worldwide), and is closing in on ‘Titanic’, another James Cameron film.
On top of the film’s success at the box office, the franchise giant is also popular amongst theme park goers. You can find The World Of Pandora at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida. There are two attractions based inside the Avatar-inspired land – “Flight of Passage” and “Na’vi River Journey.” In “Flight of the Passage,” guests can fly on the back of a mountain banshee over Pandora, complete with 3D, of course. “The Na’vi River Journey” takes riders on an immersive river ride, exploring the caves, bioluminescent rainforest, and an extremely life-like audio-animatronic.
Director James Cameron for ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’
Other Films By James Cameron
The three-time Academy Award-winning director may very well be adding another golden statue to his mantle. ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ has received four Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Sound, Best Production Design, and Best Visual Effects.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ was released in theaters on December 16th, 2022 from Lightstorm Entertainment and 20th Century Studios. Directed by James Cameron, and written by Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, the film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Kate Winslet.
Watch Moviefone’s interviews with James Cameron and the cast of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ below:
Michelle Yeoh in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ Photo Credit: Courtesy of A24.
If anyone was concerned that a film featuring multiverses, sensual use of hot dog fingers and a fight involving butt plugs might be too weird for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, those concerns were put to one side this morning as ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ stormed the Oscar nominations with an impressive 11 nods.
We’ll wait to see how many of those nominations are converted into wins come Oscar night, but it’s a welcome show of support for the scrappy film that could which has gone on to become a major awards contender, winning plenty for directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert and stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, the latter of whom is surely the favorite as Best Supporting Actor. It’s also nice to see fellow co-star Stephanie Hsu up for Best Supporting Actress.
Elsewhere, fellow front-runners and awards hoovers ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ and ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ got nine nominations each, and both seem likely to take something home. ‘Elvis’ is nipping at their heels with eight, and star Austin Butler remains a potential Best Actor winner.
Austin Butler as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis.’ Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros.
On the big blockbuster front, it was a case of mixed fortunes, much like the box office of late. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ both made it into Best Picture and several technical categories, while ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ couldn’t repeat the trick of the first film, cropping up mostly in the likes of costume and make-up, though Angela Bassett has real (and deserved) momentum as Best Supporting Actress.
Like ‘Wakanda Forever’, ‘The Batman’ is mostly found in the technical side of the nominations while both ‘Babylon’ and ‘Empire of Light’ lingered with just a couple of nods. We’re also sorry to see ‘RRR’ miss out on an International nod, though it is in contention for Best Original Song.
Among the pleasant surprises? The groundswell of support for Andrea Riseborough in ‘To Leslie’ sees her end up on the Best Actress list and an Animated Film category where you’d be happy with pretty much any of the listed entries winning. Also, Sarah Polley’s ‘Women Talking’ certainly deserves to be sharing Best Picture space with the others in that category (and Adapted Screenplay), even if its acting ensemble perhaps deserved better.
Rumored titles and release dates for director James Cameron’s upcoming ‘Avatar’ sequels.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is sailing to success at the box office. On Wednesday, the film stood at domestic haul of $337.8 million and an International total of $762.8 million, and by the end of Thursday, it will have earned more than $1.1 billion, making it the second biggest hit of 2022, after ‘Top Gun: Maverick’.
With the other movies in James Cameron’s sci-fi franchise all at different stages of production, the future of the ‘Avatar’ universe seems assured, at least for the next decade or so.
Which means it must be time for the rumored titles of the movies, which surfaced way back in 2019 during the ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ (which Cameron co-wrote and produced) press tour.
Given the developments in ‘The Way of Water’, including that the Earth is worse off even than when it was portrayed in the 2009 original movie and revelations about teenage character Kiri’s (Sigourney Weaver) connections to mystical, powerful tree Eywa, it’s perhaps telling that ‘Seed Bearer’ and the tree’s name itself feature in potential future titles. The Tulkun, meanwhile, are the whale-like creatures from ‘The Way of Water’.
Sigourney Weaver plays Jake and Neytiri’s adopted teenage Na’vi daughter In ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’ Photo courtesy of Empire Magazine.
We’ll have to wait and see whether the names change completely or shift slightly closer to each movie’s release. Whether it ends up titled ‘The Seed Bearer’ or something else, the third Avatar movie will be in theaters on December 20th, 2024.
Further forward we’ve learned a tiny nugget about the fifth film from producer Jon Landau. “I wasn’t going to talk about it, but I’ve now subsequently heard that Jim has talked about it a little bit,” Landau told IGN. In movie five there is a section of the story where we go to Earth. And we go to it to open people’s eyes, open Neytiri’s eyes, to what exists on Earth.”
It’s worth a mention that in the same interview, Landau shot down the other titles. “We have decided on titles, but I would not go by those other three titles that were out there,” he said. “You know, if you roll the dice one in six times, you’ll pick the right number.”
To turn attention back for a moment to where we currently stand, ‘The Way of Water’, and co-writer/director Cameron has been talking about what didn’t make the final cut in the latest film. Turns out it was some of the violence in the movie.
“I actually cut about 10 minutes of the movie targeting gunplay action,” Cameron told Esquire Middle East. “I wanted to get rid of some of the ugliness, to find a balance between light and dark. You have to have conflict, of course. Violence and action are the same thing, depending on how you look at it. This is the dilemma of every action filmmaker, and I’m known as an action filmmaker.”
It is certainly a surprising sentiment coming from a man whose movie characters have mown down many in their time, but he has certainly switch perspective in the intervening years. “I look back on some films that I’ve made, and I don’t know if I would want to make that film now. I don’t know if I would want to fetishize the gun, like I did on a couple of ‘Terminator’ movies 30-plus years ago, in our current world. What’s happening with guns in our society turns my stomach.” Hasta la vista, weapons.
Courtesy of 20th Century Studios.
UzX7yilkcuX5EHYaLT0c05
m8JUpK6gvtcETwFYyuMWZ
9HeKnBxTfRr4OtMbtlywZ1
Eij8i2a3
Coming out of the pandemic, 2022 turned out to be a great year for cinema!
It began with a new take on the Dark Knight from Matt Reeves‘ ‘The Batman,’ followed by the surprise hit ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ then the summer blockbuster sequel ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ and finishing off with James Cameron‘s long-awaited ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ its truly been an amazing year for movies.
With the year quickly coming to a close, Moviefone has assembled its list of the 22 best movies of 2022.
From Damien Chazelle, “Babylon’ is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.
Actually opening in limited release on December 30th, 2022 and directed by Marc Foster, the movie follows the story of Otto Anderson (Tom Hanks), a grumpy widower who is very set in his ways. When a lively young family moves in next door, he meets his match in quick-witted and very pregnant Marisol, (Mariana Treviño) leading to an unlikely friendship that will turn his world upside-down.
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents Carlo Collodi’s classic tale of the wooden marionette (Gregory Mann) who is magically brought to life in order to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto (David Bradley). This whimsical, stop-motion film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson follows the mischievous and disobedient adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.
Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the film tells the life story of Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) as seen through the complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).
A US soldier (Jennifer Lawrence) suffers a traumatic brain injury while fighting in Afghanistan and struggles to adjust to life back home in New Orleans. When she meets local mechanic James (Brian Tyree Henry), the pair begin to forge an unexpected bond.
Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on his own life story, the movie is set in post-World War II era Arizona and follows young Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), who aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth. Also starring Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Judd Hirsch.
Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, ‘The Woman King’ tells the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen.
Inspired by true events, the film follows the emotionally epic journey of General Nanisca (Oscar-winner Viola Davis) as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life. Some things are worth fighting for!
Directed by Matt Reeves, ‘The Batman,’ stars Robert Pattinson in the dual role of Gotham City’s vigilante detective and his alter ego, reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne. Also starring Paul Dano as Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, and Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon.
‘Living’ is the story of an ordinary man (Bill Nighy), reduced by years of oppressive office routine to a shadow existence, who at the eleventh hour makes a supreme effort to turn his dull life into something wonderful – into one he can say has been lived to the full.
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg and part of the ‘Predator‘ franchise, when danger threatens her camp, the fierce and highly skilled Comanche warrior Naru (Amber Midthunder) sets out to protect her people. But the prey she stalks turns out to be a highly evolved alien predator with a technically advanced arsenal.
Directed by Oscar-winning director James Cameron and set more than a decade after the events of ‘Avatar,’ the film tells the story of the Sully family (Jake (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
Directed by George Miller, the film follows Dr. Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton), an academic content with life and a creature of reason. While in Istanbul attending a conference, she happens to encounter a Djinn (Idris Elba) who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.
This presents two problems. First, she doubts that he is real and second, because she is a scholar of story and mythology, she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong. The Djinn pleads his case by telling her fantastical stories of his past, and eventually she is beguiled and makes a wish that surprises them both.
Emily (Aubrey Plaza) is saddled with student debt and locked out of the job market due to a minor criminal record. Desperate for income, she takes a shady gig as a “dummy shopper,” buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a handsome and charismatic middleman named Youcef (Theo Rossi).
Faced with a series of dead-end job interviews, Emily soon finds herself seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills of black-market capitalism, and increasingly interested in her mentor Youcef. Together, they hatch a plan to bring their business to the next level in Los Angeles.
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.
When he finds himself training a detachment of TOPGUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.”
Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.
Directed by Robert Eggers, the film follows Prince Amleth, who on the verge of becoming a man witnesses his father (Ethan Hawke) brutally murdered by his uncle (Claes Bang), who kidnaps the boy’s mother (Nicole Kidman). Two decades later, Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) is now a Viking who’s on a mission to save his mother, kill his uncle and avenge his father.
A couple travels (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.
Directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes, the film is a love story set in and around an old cinema on the South Coast of England in the 1980s starring Oscar-winner Olivia Colman, Oscar-winner Colin Firth, and Micheal Ward.
New York Times reporters Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) break one of the most important stories in a generation — a story that helped launch the #MeToo movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood.
Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the film tells the story of first love between Maren (Taylor Russell), a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee (Timothée Chalamet), an intense and disenfranchised drifter. What follows is a liberating road odyssey of two young people coming into their own, searching for identity and chasing beauty in a perilous world that cannot abide who they are.
Directed by Martin McDonagh and set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, the film follows lifelong friends Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), who find themselves at an impasse when Colm unexpectedly puts an end to their friendship.
A stunned Pádraic, aided by his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) and troubled young islander Dominic (Barry Keoghan), endeavours to repair the relationship, refusing to take no for an answer. But Pádraic’s repeated efforts only strengthen his former friend’s resolve and when Colm delivers a desperate ultimatum, events swiftly escalate, with shocking consequences.
(L to R) Edward Furlong as John Connor and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator in director James Cameron’s ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day.’
James Cameron is going to be spending most of his future filmmaking time on Pandora, or at least virtually, making the various sequels to ‘Avatar’ and its new follow-up, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, which has recently hit theaters.
But he still has his mind on other franchises that he’s launched or helped along in the years past, including ‘Alita: Battle Angel’. And, if anyone else really wants to touch the subject after the abject failure of ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’, another movie set in the world of Skynet and dangerous technology.
“If I were to do another ‘Terminator’ film and maybe try to launch that franchise again, which is in discussion, but nothing has been decided, I would make it much more about the AI side of it than bad robots gone crazy,” Cameron told the hosts.
And he’s also recently been candid about the fate––pun intended––of ‘Dark Fate’, admitting that it had its own issues.
Linda Hamilton in ‘Terminator: Dark Fate.’
The movie, directed by ‘Deadpool’s Tim Miller and for which Cameron helped crank out the story and worked as producer, was not a big success at the box office, though the filmmaker seems happy that it got made at all.
“I think, I’m actually reasonably happy with the film. Tim and I had our battles and we’ve both spoken about that, but the crazy thing is we’re still pals. Which is weird. I liked him before the movie, didn’t like him very much during the movie, and I like him now, and I think he feels the same way,” Cameron told Deadline.
And he’s also open as to why it didn’t work completely. “I think the problem, and I’m going to wear this one, is that I refused to do it without Arnold. Tim didn’t want Arnold, but I said, “Look, I don’t want that. Arnold and I have been friends for 40 years, and I could hear it, and it would go like this: ‘Jim, I can’t believe you’re making a Terminator movie without me.’ ” Cameron laughs. “It just didn’t mean that much to me to do it, but I said, ‘If you guys could see your way clear to bringing Arnold back and then, you know, I’d be happy to be involved.’ ”
But it snowballed from there, according to Cameron… “And then Tim wanted Linda (Hamilton). I think what happened is I think the movie could have survived having Linda in it, I think it could have survived having Arnold in it, but when you put Linda and Arnold in it and then, you know, she’s 60-something, he’s 70-something, all of a sudden it wasn’t your ‘Terminator’ movie, it wasn’t even your dad’s ‘Terminator’ movie, it was your granddad’s ‘Terminator’ movie,” he admits. “And we didn’t see that. We loved it, we thought it was cool, you know, that we were making this sort of direct sequel to a movie that came out in 1991. And young moviegoing audiences weren’t born. They wouldn’t even have been born for another 10 years.”
Director James Cameron for ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, meanwhile, is doing a little bit better at the box office, though perhaps not with an opening (here in the States at least) as big as it might have been––or that it needs to really earn its expansive budget back.
‘The Way of Water’ opened with $134 million after its first weekend, certainly impressive (in an era of fewer movies seeing big numbers), but below Disney’s expectations. And below Cameron’s own real hopes. The director himself had said before its launch that the movie would “have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history” to break even, and this is certainly not that.
Still, as has been said many times before, no one should count out James Cameron. The movie has still enjoyed the sixth best opening ever for December, the month’s best non-MCU and non- ‘Star Wars’ opening, was 74% ahead of the first ‘Avatar’ ($77 million) and 5.5% ahead of this year’s own box office champ, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ ($127 million).
Internationally the film opened to $301 million, bringing the global weekend total to $435 million. It’s the second biggest global start of the year, right at the tail of ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ $442 million global bow.
And it has been swamping cinema takings in places such as the UK, where it debuted at No. 1 with a gargantuan £11.1 million ($13.5 million). In fairness, no other studio dared open a big release against it, and the film faces little major competition in the coming couple of weeks, so it could well hold on and keep earning big bucks, especially if good word of mouth works in its favor.
Reviews for the movie across the spectrum from outright pans to raves, somewhat in keeping with the original movie, which, let’s not forget, went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, until it was unseated by ‘Avengers: Endgame’, and managed to reclaim the title thanks to re-releases.
Cameron’s latest effectively has the holiday period to itself, at least in terms of major, all-audience releases, so there’s plenty of opportunity ahead for it to scoop up cash like a Pandoran Nalutsa glides through the ocean, hovering up plants and small animals.
With big spectacle and a desire for audiences to see its distinctive, technologically advanced visuals in theaters, expect ‘The Way of Water’ to stay afloat for a while yet. And even if it doesn’t live up to the 2009 movie’s Biggest Movie Ever, it’s far from a flop. Cameron has said he’d let market forces decide if the ‘Avatar’ universe would continue; the fact that he’s still at work on a third (and the others) suggests that his latest effort is being rewarded.
Whatever it ends up titled, the third ‘Avatar’ outing is scheduled for release on December 20th, 2024.
Arriving in theaters on December 16th, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ represents James Cameron attempting the same high wire trick he pulled with the 2009 original, with the added pressure of 13 years between releases.
But as the old maxim in Hollywood goes, it’s best not to bet against Jim Cameron! This is a man who was told that his film about a troubled, true-life ship would sink without trace. That he couldn’t come up with a solid sequel to a movie about a killer cyborg. And, most tellingly, that no one could turn 3D from a gimmick to a worthwhile format, especially not with a movie about some blue creatures whose storyline seemed to be an expensive, live-action remake of ‘FernGully: The Last Rainforest’.
It’s safe to say that, while the original may not have left the same lasting cultural crater as it did on the box office (it took until ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ to truly dethrone it, and a recent re-release has seen Cameron claim the crown back again), ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ looks set to go over just as well.
The story picks up more than a decade after the events of the original film (for those who somehow find themselves in a theater watching the new movie without having seen that, there is a helpful exposition dump from Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) himself.
Jake, see, was a paraplegic human brought to the moon of Pandora to replace his late brother, a marine who was part a mission to subdue the local populace, known as Na’vi, so humanity could continue strip-mining the place. Your basic colonialist narrative with the added wrinkle of “Avatars”, lab-grown versions of the Na’vi to which a human consciousness can be connected – one of which had been earmarked for Jake’s sibling.
Instead, Jake encountered the Na’Vi, met warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) fell in love and fought back against the human forces, led on the military front by Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), a burly, blustering marine who sees it has his job to take down the Na’vi.
‘The Way of Water’ fills in some of the gaps between movies––Jake and Neytiri have a family, including three kids of their own (Jamie Flatters as eldest son Neteyam, Britain Dalton as Lo’ak, second-born son and Trinity Jo-Li Bliss as Tuktirey/“Tuk”, their eight-year-old daughter) plus adoptive teenage daughter Kiri, played by Sigourney Weaver. And yes, she has a connection to Weaver’s character Dr. Grace Augustine from the first movie that we won’t specify here.
Sigourney Weaver plays Jake and Neytiri’s adopted teenage Na’vi daughter In ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’ Photo courtesy of Empire Magazine.
Though the family and their tribe have lived peacefully in the intervening years, humanity––and Quaritch, who was killed by Neytiri at the end of the first movie––are back to finish the job. Soon, Jake and his brood are running for their lives, ending up with the Metkayina clan (led by Cliff Curtis’ Tonowari and Kate Winslet’s Ronal), who live and thrive around and in Pandora’s voluminous oceans.
As for the film itself, it shares both the many strengths and some crucial weaknesses of the original.
On the positive side of things, this shoves the “spectacle” right back into “spectacular”––Cameron and his technological and creative team have pushed the boundaries of what’s possible once again, realizing truly dazzling visuals that will absolutely be held up as groundbreaking and state of the art.
Cameron has plenty of experience of his own in the water, and he brings all of it to making the oceanic scenes look as real as possible. It’s clear that team ‘Avatar’ didn’t spend all this time sitting on their laurels––mammoth amounts of research and development have gone into making the Na’vi look even more lifelike this time (and figuring out clever ways the Metkayina would differ from Jake and Neytiri’s tribe, such as their more powerful tails, which aid in swimming).
The world around them is brimming with fresh creatures, which are just as incredible as the forest-dwellers from the first run-around. And when the humans arrive to cause problems, they do so in machinery that looks chunky, real-world and immaculately designed.
3D hasn’t really been much of a thing these past few years, but ‘The Way of Water’ uses it in such a way as to draw you right back in. And while the high frame rate still has some issues at moments, this is lightyears ahead of the likes of ‘The Hobbit’.
Yet we did mention the weaknesses, and this first sequel (Cameron currently plans three more) carries them over too. Primarily it’s in the storyline, and despite the director assembling a writers room to help crank out an overarching story and four distinct outings, the characters and plot remain lacking.
With a script for this one credited to Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (who were part of the ‘Avatar’ sequel creative quorum and also wrote on the likes of ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’), you might have hoped for more polish. Instead what we’re offered are a second helping of basic tropes, easily foreseeable plot turns and embarrassingly base-level initial squabbling between the kids from the tribes before they learn to put aside their differences.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ opens in theaters on December 16th. Photo courtesy of the movie’s Twitter account.
Lang, though he immerses himself in the role despite being big and blue this time, is still saddled with cheesy dialogue and first-draft motivations.
And while the likes of Weaver and the rest of the Sully-Neytiri clan are the focus here, spare a thought for poor Saldana who, aside from some heroic third-act moments, is mostly called upon to worry.
And while the visuals are near-flawless, you could be forgiven, at times when humans are sharing the screen with Na’vi, for thinking that you’re watching the movie that plays before a theme park ride. Then there’s several character and action moments that feel like the director making a greatest hits album––the chatty marines and sturdy tech of ‘Aliens’, the parental worries of ‘Terminator 2’ and the watery finale of ‘Titanic’ all sharing space here.
Those quibbles aside, if you give yourself over to the action, the lavish (virtual) locales and the rush of emotions that Cameron is looking to generate, and is mostly successful in doing so, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ will give you reason to celebrate returning to Pandora.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ receives 4 out of 5 stars.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ opens in theaters on December 16th. Photo courtesy of the movie’s Twitter account.
20076604
g4uicAnv
