Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

[Jonathan Perregaux]

Title: Avatar: The Way of Water (2020)

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Kate Winslet, Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Oona Chaplin, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Giovanni Ribisi, CCH Pounder, Joel David Moore, Matt Gerald, Trinity Bliss, Britain Dalton, Jamie Flatters, Jack Champion, Filip Geljo, Duane Evans Jr., Bailey Bass, Chloe Coleman

Release: 2020-12-16

Plot: A sequel to Avatar (2009).

Looks like we'll be topped-off with a total of four Avatar sequels through 2023 (now up from three).

Which is great, because I was just thinking that—with the dearth of science-fiction/fantasy/superhero movies to occupy my attention—I really need to sit through almost 14 hours of 3-D CGI blue people being chased by shiny dogs to pass my time. And then spend over $200 on the Blu-ray releases that won't be in 3-D because the format died.

http://www.slashfilm.com/avatar-5-2023/

 

[TravisR]

I'll see anything that Cameron does but I weep at the prospect that one of the very few guys that can nearly get a blank check from any studio for almost any idea he has is doing sequels rather than something new.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Will anyone show up?

I'm a big fan of Cameron, and I liked Avatar more than most. But these sequels keep taking longer and longer, and the number of them keeps increasing. Does it make a lot of sense to make four sequels back to back to a movie that's almost ten years old and wasn't universally beloved? What happens if they put out the first sequel and it doesn't make a billion dollars?

Of all the Cameron properties that he could have done a sequel too, this is the one that excites me the least. Like my reaction to a lot of announcements lately, I want to be wrong, I want these to be mindblowingly awesome, i want them to be very successful for the studio, and I'd like James Cameron to have another hit. But I'm with Travis in wishing that Cameron was working on an original idea, and also wishing he wasn't taking so darned long.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I'll see anything that Cameron does but I weep at the prospect that one of the very few guys that can nearly get a blank check from any studio for almost any idea he has is doing sequels rather than something new.

You mean sequels like "Aliens" and "T2"?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

If Cameron was going to dedicate the rest of his life to making sequels to an existing property, what I wouldn't give for another James Cameron Terminator movie.

 

[Sam Favate]

They obviously think it has the potential to be huge. Disney World has been working on Avatar-themed attractions at its Animal Kingdom park for a few years now. I guess it will tie into the release of the next film.

But yeah, I would love to see Cameron take on something new.

 

[TravisR]

You mean sequels like "Aliens" and "T2"?

I guess I'm moving the goal posts but back then he did a movie every 2 or 3 years. By the time he finishes these movies, it'll have been 26 years since he made a non-Avatar feature and he'll be 69 years old and that assumes that he somehow manages to stay on this new schedule. With the amount of time that Cameron takes off between projects now and his age when he'll be done with Avatar, these movies are likely to be the end of his career.

Avatar is my least favorite Cameron movie but I do think he's a legitimate genius so he could be setting up an epic (and not in the internet overusage of the word but its actual meaning) tale that is worth the wait, the time & the money and blows everyone away. If anyone has it in them to do it, it's James Cameron.

 

[Sean Bryan]

At the end of his career just because of his age? Tell that to George Miller.

I really liked Avatar. I'm not sure why Cameron needs to make four follow-ups, but if he has a specific story he wants to tell over multiple installments, I say have at it. I'll be excited to see them.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

He's really missing out on developing a multi-part, interconnected cinematic universe based on Piranha II: The Spawning though.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I'm probably in the minority but Cameron, in my opinion, is one of the worst filmmakers working today. Still, I agree with Travis that because the guy is certain to get funding for whatever he wants to do I would prefer to see him working on 5 original projects and not Smurf movies for the rest of his career. I am a fan of his documentaries though and what I've heard is the reason he is doing all these Avatar movies is not because he thinks this is great stuff but because he thinks it will earn him enough money to fund his undersea adventures for the rest of his life.

 

[TravisR]

At the end of his career just because of his age? Tell that to George Miller.

Or Robert Altman (who worked into his 80's) or Alfred Hitchcock or soon-to-be Steven Spielberg but those guys didn't take huge breaks between their movies. After working on these sequels for about a decade, he's bound to take a long vacation to recharge his batteries, hang out with his family and enjoy spending his mountains of money and if he does another movie, he'll then spend years in pre-production so absolute best case scenario is that he'll make one more movie after he finishes Avatar.

I'm probably in the minority but Cameron, in my opinion, is one of the worst filmmakers working today.

Man, I feel faint after reading this. "One of the worst"? Even if you're not a fan, I think it's fair to say that Cameron is still head and shoulders over virtually anyone directing mega-blockbusters today. Not that directing action is the only skill a director needs but it is still a skill and one that Cameron clearly possesses. The simple fact that he has the ability to show action onscreen and edit it coherently makes him better than alot of successful action directors that cut from an object to a guy screaming to an explosion with no sense of geography or who is who.

I am a fan of his documentaries though and what I've heard is the reason he is doing all these Avatar movies is not because he thinks this is great stuff but because he thinks it will earn him enough money to fund his undersea adventures for the rest of his life.

Yeah, science has always been an interest of his and environmentalism has become a real passion & concern for him and I think he views the Avatar movies as a way to entertain people while also delivering a message that he really believes in. I'm sure some people will criticize any message in a movie they don't agree with ("How dare he say that polluting our planet is bad!!!") but personally, I find that to be an admirable goal.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Looks like we'll be topped-off with a total of four Avatar sequels through 2023 (now up from three).

Does this mean we will still be waiting for new approved transfers for "True Lies" and ""The Abyss" in 2024??

 

[Keith Cobby]

True Lies is his best film and I am disappointed he cannot put aside a little time to oversee a blu-ray/UHD release. The audience for this is diminishing by the year. Although it may be a technical masterpiece, Avatar left me cold.

 

[YanMan]

I agree with Josh.

I'm a huge Cameron fan, but I just can't muster much excitement for this news. It is completely ridiculous that it will have taken nine years just to get the first sequel out... I'm not sure the initial audience enthusiasm for the first film still exists.

I also would have much rather seen Cameron tackle something different. With this production schedule, Avatar will have eaten up almost 20 years of Cameron's career.

In the meantime, still no Abyss on BD...

 

[TravisR]

I'm not sure the initial audience enthusiasm for the first film still exists.

I'd agree but I think there's going to be a trailer that makes people freak out and completely turns that lack of enthusiasm around. Between today's audiences' love of franchises and a strong trailer, a whole lot of people (including me) that currently have a mild interest in these sequels are suddenly going to be dying to see them,

 

[Aaron Silverman]

There's always hope that the first film was technical practice and the sequels will use it in service of better stories.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I'd agree but I think there's going to be a trailer that makes people freak out and completely turns that lack of enthusiasm around. Between today's audiences' love of franchises and a strong trailer, a whole lot of people (including me) that currently have a mild interest in these sequels are suddenly going to be dying to see them,

I want Cameron to be successful at whatever he does. The budget for these movies will be astronomical. Whenever Cameron makes a movie, it's the most expensive movie ever made. And I think it's one thing to make one movie at a time that way. $250 million for each of the four movies is probably not unrealistic considering the budget of the first one was reported at $237 million, and that was almost ten years ago. So it could easily be a billion spent to make these, nevermind the marketing. I don't think it will outright flop. I don't think the economies of today's movie business even really allow for the possibility that no one shows up at scale. It'll be booked in enough theaters in enough territories and have enough marketing that it will have a big opening weekend no matter what. But as we've seen in recent years, that may not be enough. Sony said in advance of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" opening that they needed it to gross $1 billion for the franchise to continue. It "only" grossed about $750 million, and an entire slate of planned sequels and spin-offs was canceled. Warner expected "Batman v Superman" to be huge, and it did have a giant opening weekend, but has plummeted since then; with the opening weekend, it seemed a no-brainer that it would make a billion, and now it seems extremely unlikely to hit that mark. Of course these movies aren't direct comparisons - there really is no direct comparison. But I can imagine a scenario where a lot of people come out to see "Avatar 2", but not $1 billion's worth of people. It could be a movie that grosses "only" $300-500 million domestically, which would still be a huge sum of money, but not what they had in mind. It is certainly a gamble. If there's anyone who can pull it off, it's Cameron.

 

[WillG]

Does this mean we will still be waiting for new approved transfers for "True Lies" and ""The Abyss" in 2024??

Can't Fox put in some kind of clause in whatever contract Cameron signs for funding that he has to finally sit down and approve transfers for Abyss and True Lies?

 

[Dick]

There's always hope that the first film was technical practice and the sequels will use it in service of better stories.

So one would hope... But let's not forget about another (so-called) filmmaker who decided to coast on his (undeserved) success, and whose initials are Michael Bay (a hack, yes), but Cameron has way too much skill and imagination to be getting locked into one storyline for a decade, IMO. Hey, how about he take one single month away from AVATAR to properly master THE ABYSS and TRUE LIES for Blu-ray? And then go on to make some truly original, one-shot new films, perhaps separated by one or two AVATAR sequels. Yeah, I know...what do I know? And I admit to loving that 3D AVATAR environment, but, as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder, which can also mean: over-familiarity breeds boredom and even contempt.

 

[SAhmed]

In strong alignment with opinions already expressed I too say that Avatar was technically brilliant but the story itself was meh. And so the thought of 4 sequels (possibly/probably in the same vein) by a talented director ( Terminator 1 & 2, Aliens, The Abyss, Titanic, True Lies ) leaves me ambivalent. Would be much more excited if he were to tackle new material AND get involved in the long in-development high def releases of his major success. Seriously he is unable to pull out some time to "give back" to his fans after all this time ? To me, it smacks of arrogance to some degree.

Regards,