Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) (1 Viewer)

[Johnny Angell]

Will anyone show up?

I loved Avatar and welcome the sequels. I'll show up. Maybe we'll get a 3D release of the extended edition with the first sexual.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

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

And even Michael Bay takes time in between his Transformer movies to make other movies. They might still be Michael Bay movies, but it shows you can direct 4+ movies in a franchise and still have a career outside it.

 

[TonyD]

I loved Avatar and welcome the sequels. I'll show up. Maybe we'll get a 3D release of the extended edition with the first sexual.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

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.
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.

I just feel he does a fairly horrible job with the dialogue and stories in his films. He certainly knows how to do effects and action sequences but basically I feel like his films tend to be better enjoyed with the sound off. I mean I'm not the audience for most of what he does so anything I say should be taken with a grain of salt. I think the main reason people see his films is to see what he has done with the effects and really to me that should be a complimentary thing to the story...not the whole show.

I like the fact he has such an interest in the Earth's oceans and really he could be a major help in educating people on the amount of plastic we have dumped into them. Plastic that does not deteriorate and is a major ecological disaster.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Damn autocorrect.

 

[JeremyR]

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.

OMG Yes. But my opinion of him has really taken a hit since the mid 90's with Titanic and Avatar, and I wonder if he's even capable at this point of doing something that interesting or imaginative.

 

[JeremyR]

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.

It's a mystery how one goes from one of the best to one of the least interesting at least throughout the course of their career. But that has been the trajectory for me as well. I sat in pain through Titanic and Avatar both remembering some of the genius he brought us with Terminator, The Abyss, and Aliens. I sometimes wonder if these guys end up reading too many of their press clippings, and begin to take themselves too seriously. Some of these actors and directors as they really begin to stretch their creative minds and push themselves outside of the early box they were stuck in can truly thrive IMO like a Robin Williams. But then others begin to take themselves too seriously (I've kind of felt like that about Tom Hanks for example) and suddenly aren't that interesting to me anymore. I know acting and directing are different monsters, but I wonder if it's a similar situation. It's okay to have some dogs amongst the genius, certain Spielberg has had both throughout his career. But I know with a Spielberg movie to this day it has a chance to be a potentially life changing experience watching one of his films, and so it's worth it every time. Cameron's stuff is just decoration anymore.

 

[JeremyR]

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

I wish I shared your sense of hope. Maybe you're right. At one time this man was capable of telling a riveting story.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

I'm sure James Cameron can come up with 11 reasons why we're all dead wrong about Titanic:

 

[WillG]

To me, it smacks of arrogance to some degree

From "The King of the world"? Get outta here!

 

[dpippel]

This thread is almost exactly a year old! Well, time to briefly bring it back to life. Cameron made an announcement today on the official Avatar Facebook page, setting hard release dates for ALL of the Avatar sequels. I hope that none of you were planning on visiting Pandora again anytime soon:

"Great to be working with the best team in the business! Avatar takes flight as we begin concurrent production on four sequels. The journey continues December 18, 2020, December 17, 2021, December 20, 2024 and December 19, 2025!"

So Avatar 2 will end up being released ELEVEN YEARS AFTER THE FIRST FILM. Will anyone even care at that point? Insane.

https://www.facebook.com/Avatar/

 

[TravisR]

So Avatar 2 will end up being released ELEVEN YEARS AFTER THE FIRST FILM. Will anyone even care at that point? Insane.

I still think the trailer is going to completely turn people's apathy around. Mine included.

With the releases spread out over so long of a period of time, it does raise the question of what are they going to do if the second one tanks?


Fun fact: The release of Avatar 5 will be 28 years to the day of when Titanic came out. I'm so damn old.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

"Great to be working with the best team in the business! Avatar takes flight as we begin concurrent production on four sequels. The journey continues December 18, 2020, December 17, 2021, December 20, 2024 and December 19, 2025!"

So Avatar 2 will end up being released ELEVEN YEARS AFTER THE FIRST FILM. Will anyone even care at that point? Insane.

I know, it's crazy. I'm sure I will go because I've seen every James Cameron movie and I'm not stopping now, but it's a huge delay for four sequels to a movie that's more or less left the public consciousness and that no one really demanded a sequel to in the first place. It seemed like a self-contained story that didn't need to be revisited.

Like Travis, I wonder what they do if the first one underperforms. I think a trailer could interest people, but I think we've also seen in recent years that there aren't guarantees for franchises - studios have tried to make franchises out of some properties where the material didn't demand it, and the audience didn't show up. I could see that happening here.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I'm happy there will be sequels but not so happy with the time delay. I had held out a minuscule hope the the 2nd Avatar would rekindle the 3D industry, may even get the TV manufactures to resume making 3D sets.

By the time Avatar 2 comes out, the decision not to make 3D sets will be set in stone.

I saw Sigorney Weaver on The Late Show and Colbert asked her if she had started shooting Avatar 2 yet. She was coy in her answer and said something like "I can't tell you that." She wasn't denying it or confirming it.

Will 2 be some sort of prequel or are the resurrecting Signorey's character in some fashion?

 

[Edwin-S]

So much for "Battle Angel".

 

[WillG]

I know, it's crazy. I'm sure I will go because I've seen every James Cameron movie and I'm not stopping now, but it's a huge delay for four sequels to a movie that's more or less left the public consciousness and that no one really demanded a sequel to in the first place. It seemed like a self-contained story that didn't need to be revisited.

I think this Avatar thing has crossed over into bizarre obsession with Cameron. I don't know exactly how old he is, but this project is going to take up a good portion of his remaining years.

Also another issue (IMO anyway) is that once you get past the visual splendor, Avatar really isn't a very good movie

 

[TravisR]

I think this Avatar thing has crossed over into bizarre obsession with Cameron. I don't know exactly how old he is, but this project is going to take up a good portion of his remaining years.

He'll be 69 by 2025 so I think there's a chance that the Avatar movies will wrap up his career. I hope the man lives 20 more years after finishing them but given the long periods of time that he takes off between projects, I think the best case scenario is that he will make one more non-Avatar movie when he's in his 70's.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think at one point during this extended pre-production period, Cameron actually stated that it was his intention to make only Avatar films for the remainder of his career. So if I'm remembering correctly, that's that.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

"Great to be working with the best team in the business! Avatar takes flight as we begin concurrent production on four sequels. The journey continues December 18, 2020, December 17, 2021, December 20, 2024 and December 19, 2025!"

So Avatar 2 will end up being released ELEVEN YEARS AFTER THE FIRST FILM. Will anyone even care at that point? Insane.

And that's assuming these dates stick. There have been a lot of release dates in the past for these sequels that have come and gone.

So much for "Battle Angel".

That one's actually moving a lot faster than the Avatar sequels, since Cameron turned it over to Robert Rodriguez. It finished shooting in February and is scheduled for release next summer. Rosa Salazar is playing the title role.

 

[Edwin-S]

That one's actually moving a lot faster than the Avatar sequels, since Cameron turned it over to Robert Rodriguez. It finished shooting in February and is scheduled for release next summer. Rosa Salazar is playing the title role.

On one hand, it is good news to hear that Battle Angel has gone ahead. On the other hand, Robert Rodriguez? His filmography doesn't fill me with confidence. I would have rather seen Cameron direct the film.