Avatar 2: The Way of Water - In theaters December 16, 2022

[splax23]

4.00 star(s) Rating: 4.00/5 2 Votes

Title: Avatar 2

Genre: Action, Adventure, 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, Jemaine Clement

Release: 2021-12-15

Plot: A sequel to Avatar (2009).

 

[jefXfree]

I agree, it's a film filled with incredible visuals, but story wise is rather lacking. At least a 3/5 for a good rehashing of the same old story.

yeah. I thought Pocahontas did a better job with the story...

 

[splax23]

I know the movie was pretty much Pocahontas with Smurfs but i really enjoyed the movie. Visuals and the story were both really good IMO. I find myself popping in the Blu-ray or DVD once a week.

Making a trilogy tho, i dunno. so many things can go wrong. I guess we will see, its James Cameron and he is a great director.

 

[jefXfree]

I know the movie was pretty much Pocahontas with Smurfs but i really enjoyed the movie. Visuals and the story were both really good IMO. I find myself popping in the Blu-ray or DVD once a week.

Making a trilogy tho, i dunno. so many things can go wrong. I guess we will see, its James Cameron and he is a great director.

I think, as I've said before, I would have liked this movie more had it not got so much hype.

The visuals ARE amazing, but the story is crap (well, not crap but completely stonen). I just have NO clue how it became the number one selling movie of all time (if you buy into the non-adjusted numbers).

 

[jefXfree]

Fox: James Cameron Announce 'Avatar 2,' 'Avatar 3'

After almost a year of teasing, James Cameron and Fox have agreed to make a pair of sequels to the sci-fi smash and box office phenomenon "Avatar."

Fox is targeting December 2014 for the release of the sequel, with the third film tentatively slated for release the following year. Cameron will begin work on the scripts early next year.

The official announcement has been expected. In November of last year, star Sam Worthington said he had already signed for two more films. A month later, Cameron said he already had the stories worked out.

But momentum had been building of late. In August, Cameron told MTV he wanted to finish a novel based on the films before commiting to a filming schedule.

Cameron also said he's considering shooting two sequels simultaneously -- à la "Lord of the Rings" or "Pirates."

The first film, which was released in 2009, has grossed more than $2.7 billion worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

n February, "Avatar" broke the all-time domestic box-office record set by Cameron's "Titanic" in 1998. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, and won three -- but ultimately lost the "Best Director" and "Best Picture" Oscars to "The Hurt Locker," a film directed by Cameron's ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow.

Despite the hype surrounding the production, "Avatar" was not only not the most expensive movie ever made -- its total budget and marketing costs fell somewhere below $400 million, according to Fox, putting it below “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Spider-Man 3” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” -- it generated a huge profit.

In August, the studio posted record operating income of $1.3 billion for the fiscal year, with "Avatar" contributing nearly $1 billion to the bottom line.

News Corp.-owned Fox has been anxious about getting a sequel in the pipeline. During a recent conference call to discuss quarterly earnings, chairman Rupert Murdoch said, "We have a great slate of films coming up, but we don't have an 'Avatar' in there."

 

[jefXfree]

Here's the full release:

LOS ANGELES (October 27, 2010) -- Moving forward with the most anticipated films of the next decade, Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman announced today that Academy Award®-winning filmmaker James Cameron has agreed to make AVATAR 2 and 3 as his next films.

Cameron, who had always viewed AVATAR as the creation of a new world and mythology, will begin work on the scripts early next year with an eye towards commencing production later in 2011. Cameron will decide if he will shoot the films back-to-back after he completes the scripts, but the release of the first, as yet untitled sequel, is targeted for December 2014, with the third film contemplated for a December 2015 release.

AVATAR 2 & 3 will be produced by Cameron and Jon Landau for Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment.

“AVATAR is not only the highest grossing movie of all time, it is a created universe based on the singular imagination and daring of James Cameron, who also raised the consciousness of people worldwide to some of the greatest issues facing our planet,” said Rothman and Gianopulos. “We had no higher priority, and can feel no greater joy, than enabling Jim to continue and expand his vision of the world of AVATAR. This is a great day in the history of our company, and we thank Jim, Jon Landau, Rae Sanchini and all of their team and all of our Fox colleagues throughout the world, who have made this possible.”

Commented Cameron: "It is a rare and remarkable opportunity when a filmmaker gets to build a fantasy world, and watch it grow, with the resources and partnership of a global media company. AVATAR was conceived as an epic work of fantasy – a world that audiences could visit, across all media platforms, and this moment marks the launch of the next phase of that world. With two new films on the drawing boards, my company and I are embarking on an epic journey with our partners at Twentieth Century Fox. Our goal is to meet and exceed the global audience's expectations for the richness of AVATAR’s visual world and the power of the storytelling. In the second and third films, which will be self contained stories that also fulfill a greater story arc, we will not back off the throttle of AVATAR’s visual and emotional horsepower, and will continue to explore its themes and characters, which touched the hearts of audiences in all cultures around the world. I'm looking forward to returning to Pandora, a world where our imaginations can run wild."

“It is very exciting to be teaming again with our partners at Fox to give audiences the opportunity to return to Pandora,” said producer Jon Landau. “With the first movie, Jim only scratched the surface of the stories he wants to tell and the creatures and world he wants to create. Now we will continue his vision.”

AVATAR is the highest grossing film of all time, taking in nearly $2.8 billion in worldwide box office. It is also the top-selling Blu-ray disc of all time. AVATAR won Golden Globe® awards for Best Motion Picture and Best Director; and was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won Oscars for art direction, visual effects and cinematography.

AVATAR was written by Cameron from an idea he nurtured for over a decade, while working on the technology necessary to realize its wholly imagined world. Working with Joe Letteri and his team at Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital, Cameron created a fully immersive 3D cinematic experience of a new kind, where revolutionary technology that was invented to make the film disappeared into the emotion of the characters and the epic nature of the story.

AVATAR 2 & 3 will mark Cameron’s latest collaborations with Twentieth Century Fox, a relationship that spans 25 years and marks one of the most successful filmmaker-studio alliances in motion picture history. Cameron and Fox first joined forces in 1985 for Aliens, which became a sci-fi classic. Next came The Abyss, which revolutionized visual effects technology; and True Lies, a blockbuster starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1996, Fox greenlighted Cameron’s Titanic, which became the most successful film in history, and won a record-breaking eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Lightstorm partner Rae Sanchini negotiated the deal on Lightstorm’s behalf.

 

[jefXfree]

I'd like to point out that Avatar is the highest GROSSING film of all time, but NOT the best selling film of all time, nor is it the most seen movie of all time.

/rant

 

[Wreck]

It is the best selling in terms of $ ... Not the best selling terms of tickets sold (which was Titanic) ... what is most seen? Titanic?

 

[jefXfree]

It is the best selling in terms of $ ... Not the best selling terms of tickets sold (which was Titanic) ... what is most seen? Titanic?

Gone with the Wind. And it's only the best selling in terms of a $17 movie ticket in 2010. Gone with the Wind made more money if you convert the inflation. GWTW was around when movies were 23 cent, but had A TON more people go see it.

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm?adjust_yr=1&p=.htm

You can adjust it any way you want based on average ticket prices for that year, or number of tickets sold.

 

[jefXfree]

James Cameron Talks Avatar 2 AND 3

It looks like Cameron's got updates for us on his progress on the films:

"I am in the process of writing the next two 'Avatar' films now. We are planning to shoot them together and post them together, and we will probably release them not quite back to back, but about a year apart. Christmas '14 and '15 is the current plan."

And here's Cameron on who will return for Avatar 2:

"Basically, if you survived the first film, you get to be in the second film, at least in some form."

Guess we'll get to see some more Giovanni Ribisi! Hooray! LOLz.

Here's Cameron on how the Avatar sequels will "benefit the environment":

"Fox has partnered with me to donate a chunk of the profits to environmental causes that are at the heart of the 'Avatar' world. I didn't want to make more 'Avatar' movies without a grander plan in place."

 

[Drum18]

From Coming Soon.net:

"I’ve divided my time over the last 16 years over deep ocean exploration and filmmaking. I’ve made two movies in 16 years, and I’ve done eight expeditions. Last year I basically completely disbanded my production company’s development arm. So I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4, and I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them.”

Where are they regarding #2 & #3?:

"We've spent the last year and a half on software development and pipeline development. The virtual production methodology was extremely prototypical on the first film. As then, no one had ever done it before and we didn't even know for two and half years into it and $100 million into it if it was going to work. So we just wanted to make our lives a whole lot easier so that we can spend a little more of our brainpower on creativity. It was a very, very uphill battle on the first film. So we've been mostly working on the tool set, the production pipeline, setting up the new stages in Los Angeles, setting up the new visual effects pipeline in New Zealand, that sort of thing. And, by the way, writing. We haven't gotten to the design stage yet. That'll be the next."

 

[Drum18]

From FirstShowing.net:

Though we know James Cameron has immersed himself in work on the follow-up to Avatar in 2009, the sequels (there might even be three of them when all is said and done) aren't so easy to get off the ground, despite the knowledge gained from making the first one. Producer Jon Landau was very aware of this fact back in April when he said it would be difficult to meet Fox's projected 2014 release date for the first sequel, and now James Cameron has finally spoken out on that very fact confirming to the New York Times that Avatar 2 will not be ready until 2015 at the earliest, and that's not even a guaranteed promise now.

The most recent buzz on the film came from Sigourney Weaver saying that he might shoot all three of the sequels (a third one hasn't been ruled out by Cameron in this recent interview) back to back. However, he's not sticking around Hollywood this time. Taking a page out of Peter Jackson's book, Cameron is relocating to New Zealand where he's just bought a huge chunk of land near Lake Pounui, and he's already anxious to strap on some scuba gear and head underwater for some inspiration on the sequel which has been said to focus on the sea life of Pandora, though no details have been revealed just yet.

In addition, Cameron will be utilizing New Zealand's Kiwi locals for his crew and is said to almost certainly be shooting the sequels in Jackson's Wellington production studio with Weta Digital doing visual effects on the film. Cameron says there's something special about how the people of New Zealand hunger to work on more films, "They aren’t the sort of third-generation people you find working on soundstages in a very jaded Los Angeles." But don't worry, Tinseltown, because Cameron is still shooting motion-capture footage on a soundstage in California. Three years is a long time to wait for fans who have already waited that long for a sequel, but we're hoping it's worth it, and allows for a more original, less derivative story.

And still from FirstShowing.net:

Though James Cameron delivered the bad news that we wouldn't get an Avatar sequel until at least 2015 (which could be a big year since that's when The Avengers sequel will arrive too), we've still been waiting for clarification on whether or not we'll be getting two or three sequels. In an interview earlier this year, Cameron said, "I'm making 'Avatar 2,' 'Avatar 3,' maybe 'Avatar 4.'" The concept of a fourth film seemed solidified when Sigourney Weaver said that they were shooting all three of the sequels back-to-back. Thankfully, producer Jon Landau has now clarified these comments and sets the record straight. Read on!

Landau told the Courier Post (via ComingSoon), "We [are] doing two back-to-back, but not a third." However, that doesn't mean there won't be a fourth film, but that it won't be shot at the same time as the other two films. Of course, that likely means we wouldn't see a fourth film until like 2018 or something like that. Looking that far into the future gets a little daunting, so far now we should probably just get excited about Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 coming (hopefully) in three years. Fox hasn't recanted their 2014 and 2015 release dates for those sequels, but Cameron has said it'll be very difficult to make those dates. Stay tuned.

 

[STARKILLER 1138]

Awesome news!

 

[Drum18]

From MTV.com:

James Cameron Reveals 'Avatar 4' Plans As A Prequel
'It goes back to the early expeditions of Pandora and kind of what went wrong with the humans,' Cameron tells MTV of his 'Avatar 4' vision.

It was recently reported, via commentary from producer Jon Landau, that Cameron and company will only be shooting a second and third film back-to-back, and not a fourth as was originally rumored. That's not to say that a fourth film isn't going to happen, however, especially if Cameron's creative plans for the plot of said film come to fruition.

"I have an idea for a fourth," Cameron told MTV News when we caught up with him at a press event for "Titanic." (A new collector's edition of the record-breaking movie hits home video on September 10.) "I haven't really put pen to paper on it, but basically it goes back to the early expeditions of Pandora, and kind of what went wrong with the humans and the Na'vi and what that was like to be an explorer and living in that world."

"Because when we drop in, even in the first film in 'Avatar 1,' as it will be known in the future, we're dropping into a process that's 35 years in to a whole colonization," Cameron continued of his interest in an "Avatar" prequel. "That will complete an arc and if that leads into more, we'll start, not imitating 'Star Wars,' but it's a logical thing to do because we'll have completed the thematic arc by the end of three. The only thing left to do is go back to see what it was like on those first expeditions and create some new characters that then become legacy characters in later films. It's a plan."

Before he can get to "Avatar 4," however, Cameron needs to shoot the next two films in the series. At the moment, he and his team are "working on it," trying to simplify the process of creating the visually complex Pandora.

"We've spent two years refining the whole pipeline," said the filmmaker. "It was a hideously complex process to make that film and a lot has been said about that, but we don't want it to be done in the same prototypical way as the first one, we want it to be a much smoother workflow just for creativity reasons."

That "creativity" factor isn't something to be ignored, either. Cameron said he's still working on the story for the next two "Avatar" films, a daunting process "because I'm writing two scripts together as one big thing."

"You know, Peter Jackson had it easy, he already had the books," he cracked. "He had the books. Now if I had a time machine I could go forward and watch the movies and then come back, but I don't!"

 

[Drum18]

Deadline has word that Fox is definitely making three more Avatar films with James Cameron at the helm, and there's writers lined up for all of them.

Friedman is writng one sequel, and the other two will fall in the hands of Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Shane Salerno (Armageddon, Savages), who was working with Cameron on the remake of Fantastic Voyage. Also, all three films will be shot back-to-back, just like Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy did in New Zealand over a decade ago with production beginning in 2014. That means the first sequel won't arrive until December 2016, the second in December of 2017 and the third (you guessed it) in December of 2018.

3 more Avatar's? :movie:

 

[bloodsnake007]

An Avatar Trilogy is perfect, a part 4 is pushing it... but oh well I'm through the roof with the news!!!!!!!!!! I'm gonna go fu**ing crazy with Collectors Editions and Movie Memorabilia when these films are released! Bring them on Mr. Cameron!

 

[cooey]

I'm a HUGE Jim Cameron fan (obviously) but I remember when Avatar came out I wasn't interested in it at all, so I never saw it at the cinema. I got it on BD for my collection and thought I'd give it a watch..... I think because my expectations were so so so low I actually really enjoyed the film.

I don't know how I feel about any more Avatar films though.... I'd rather see James Cameron go back and direct a proper action movie (**ahem True Lies 2!!!!! ahem**)

 

[PunkNinja]

AVATAR: Three Sequels!

Avatar to Get Three Sequels, Fox/Cameron Hire Screenwriters. - variety.com

Twentieth Century Fox and director James Cameron announced today that the “Avatar” sequels have grown in number from two to three.

Cameron has hired screenwriters Josh Friedman (“War of the Worlds”), Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (“Rise of the Planets of the Apes”), and Shane Salerno (“Savages,” “Salinger”) to collaborate with him on the screenplays for “Avatar 2,” “Avatar 3″ and “Avatar 4.”

The three tentpoles will be filmed simultaneously with production beginning next year. The release of the first sequel will be in December 2016, with the second to follow in December 2017 and the third a year later.

Though Friedman is best known for writing on the TV show “The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” Friedman’s attachment is just a coincidence since Cameron had nothing to do with the show even though he helped create the “Terminator” characters with Gale Anne Hurd.

Cameron is producing with his Lighthouse Entertainment partner Jon Landau. No release date has been set.

The first “Avatar” is the highest grossing film at the domestic and worldwide box office having earned more than $760 million domestically and $2.7 billion worldwide.

 

[bloodsnake007]

3 years from now, part 2 will be released But here's a small update from Mr. James Cameron!

James Cameron Talks Avatar Sequels, Compares Them to The Godfather

20th Century Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment announced yesterday that James Cameron will shoot all three of his upcoming Avatar sequels in New Zealand, and now in an interview with The Associated Press, Cameron elaborated on some details regarding the films.

"It's going to be a lot of new imagery and a lot of new environments and creatures across Pandora. We're blowing it out all over the place. At first I thought I was going to take it onto other worlds as well, in the same solar system, but it turned out not to be necessary. I mean the Pandora that we have imagined will be a fantasy land that is going to occupy people for decades to come, the way I see it."

Cameron also commented on the often reported fact that second film will deal with the underwater life on Pandora, saying:

"There's a fair bit of underwater stuff. It's been inaccurately said that the second film takes place underwater. That's not true. There are underwater scenes and surface-water scenes having to do with indigenous ocean cultures that are distributed across the three films."

While the first film in the series focused mostly on Sam Worthington's Jake Sully, Cameron says the sequels will expand their focus to Jake's "family" on Pandora.

"It was very Jake-centric. His story seen through his eyes. We spread it around quite a bit more as we go forward. It's really the story of his family, the family that he creates on Pandora. His extended family. So think of it as a family saga like 'The Godfather.'"

The release of the first sequel will be in December 2016, with the second to follow in December 2017, and the third a year later. Production is expected to begin next year with Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Stephen Lang all returning in their respective roles.

Avatar 2, 3, and 4 will be produced by Cameron and Jon Landau through their Lightstorm Entertainment banner. Writers Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planets of the Apes) and Shane Salerno (Savages) are currently penning the individual sequels.

 

[bloodsnake007]

Construction Officially Begins For AVATAR-Inspired Land At Disney’s Animal Kingdom!

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/01/construction-begins-for-avatar-inspired-land-at-disneys-animal-kingdom/

Earlier this week, leaders from Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and Lightstorm Entertainment kicked off the largest expansion in Disney’s Animal Kingdom history with a ceremonial groundbreaking for the park’s new AVATAR-inspired land with blue, Na’vi-inspired shovels.
In this photo illustration, they were joined by a Na’vi, showing the scale of characters from the “AVATAR” film.

The area, which is being designed by Walt Disney Imagineering in partnership with “AVATAR” creator James Cameron and Lightstorm Entertainment, will be unlike anything ever experienced at a Disney park. Guests will experience the wonders of Pandora when they fly with banshees and explore a rich natural environment with mountains that float and interactive plants that glow at night.

“Disney’s Animal Kingdom is already home to some of our guests’ favorite attractions,” said Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “With AVATAR, we are adding a spectacular new world and an exciting set of attractions unlike any our guests have experienced. The expansion now under way will make the park a true full-day, must-see experience.”
This week’s milestone is just the first step in a larger expansion for the park that will also include the debut of a new evening spectacular, as well as a nighttime version of Kilimanjaro Safaris.
Check out the video below for a look inside the ceremony, and be sure to follow the Disney Parks Blog for future updates on this exciting expansion.

:movie:

 

[bloodsnake007]

Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana Officially Sign for Three ‘Avatar’ Sequels!

Not that they weren’t going to sign on, but it’s now official. Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana have signed on for the three sequels to James Cameron‘s Avatar. They’ll reprise their performance-capture roles as the Na’vi Jake Sully and Neytiri in films scheduled for release December 2016, 2017 and 2018.

The Hollywood Reporter was among the first to report this news. While there aren’t many details out there on the films, one potential piece of info is that the characters now have kids. Deadline reports filming will start December 2014 or January 2015 with four months of prep beforehand.

Here’s the full press release:

In the 2009 original, Worthington’s Jake Sully was a wounded former Marine confined to a wheelchair. His bravery and destiny help define a world he didn¹t even know existed. As Jake’s relationship deepened with Saldana’s Neytiri, a fearless and beautiful Na’vi huntress, he learned to respect the Na’vi way and finally took his place among them.

Commented James Cameron: “Jake Sully is rare combination of passion, strength, street smarts and soul, which requires a lot from an actor. Sam brought to the role a combination of sensitivity, vulnerability and strength. Zoë captured every aspect of the character I envisioned, bringing to Neytiri a mix of delicacy, fierceness and incredible physicality. I am beyond pleased they’ll be returning with us to Pandora.”

Last year, Cameron announced that not only is he moving forward with the most anticipated films of the next decade, but that the sequels had grown in number from two films to three.

Additionally, to help bring his expanding universe to life, Cameron hired screenwriters Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planets of the Apes) and Shane Salerno (Savages, Salinger) to collaborate with him on the screenplays for the three films.

The as yet untitled Avatar sequels will be filmed back-to-back. The release of the first follow-up will be in December 2016, with the second to follow in December 2017, and the third a year later.

Cameron and Jon Landau through Lightstorm Entertainment will produce Avatar 2, 3, and 4 for Twentieth Century Fox.

Avatar is the highest grossing film of all time, taking in nearly $2.8 billion in worldwide box office. It is also the top-selling Blu-ray disc of all time. Avatar won Golden Globe awards for Best Motion Picture and Best Director; and was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won Oscars for art direction, visual effects and cinematography.

Avatar was written by Cameron from an idea he nurtured for over a decade, while working on the technology necessary to realize its wholly imagined world. Working with Joe Letteri and his team at Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital, Cameron created a fully immersive 3D cinematic experience of a new kind, where revolutionary technology that was invented to make the film disappeared into the emotion of the characters and the epic nature of the story.

The three Avatar sequels will mark Cameron’s latest collaborations with Twentieth Century Fox, a relationship that spans 27 years and marks one of the most successful filmmaker-studio alliances in motion picture history. Cameron and Fox first joined forces in 1985 for Aliens, which became a sci-fi classic. Next came The Abyss, which revolutionized visual effects technology; and True Lies, a blockbuster starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1996, Fox green lighted Cameron’s Titanic, which became the most successful film in history, and won a record-breaking eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

:movie: