Everything to Know About ‘Avatar 2’: Title, Cast, Release Date

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Everything to Know About the Long-Anticipated ‘Avatar’ Sequel ‘The Way of Water’: Cast, Release Date and More

More than a decade after James Cameron‘s Avatar became the highest-grossing film of all time in 2009, audiences are getting ready to return to Pandora.

“It sounds kind of nuts, the process,” the director told Entertainment Weekly in December 2021 about the long-awaited sequel. “I mean, if Avatar hadn’t made so much damn money, we’d never do this — because it’s kind of crazy.”

Avatar 2: The Way of Water will take place in and around the ocean, which conservation advocate Cameron has long been fascinated with. “I do the ocean thing when I’m not making movies,” he added. “So if I could combine my two greatest loves — one of which is ocean exploration; the other, feature filmmaking — why wouldn’t I?”

The original Avatar introduced audiences to the Na’vi, the people who lived in the rainforests of Pandora who were attempting to protect their home as humans invaded to mine the valuable mineral unobtanium. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a disabled Marine who becomes involved in the Avatar Program with the intent to make peace with the Na’vi warriors, soon discovers the widespread damage that the military is causing to Pandora. He joins Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) in a quest to expel all the humans and save the beloved Tree of Souls.

While both Sully and Neytiri will return for Avatar 2, much of the plot will actually center on their preteen children. “Ultimately, the sequels are a story about family, and the lengths parents will go through to keep that family together and keep them safe,” producer Jon Landau told EW. “I always say that Jim’s movies have universal themes — and really, there’s no more universal theme than family.”

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He continued: “What we are doing now, from a story standpoint and a world standpoint, is on a much larger scale. That’s both exciting and challenging. We are putting much more detail, first and foremost, into the performances of the cast, but we’re [also] putting much more detail and diversity into the world that we are creating.”

However, the extra attention to detail meant that fans have had to wait a long time between the first and second installments. Cameron began working on the sequel’s script in 2012, one year before bringing in a writing team to help flesh out all four follow-ups at the same time.

Avatar 2 began shooting in 2017, and as of April 2022, the director is focused on the post-production process. Much of Avatar 3 was also filmed, and the third flick is scheduled for release in 2024.

Still, based on interviews with the cast and crew, Avatar 2 will be more than worth the wait. “I can get choked up just talking about it,” Saldana told Kevin McCarthy in March 2022 about the upcoming film. “I was able to see just 20 minutes of the second installment, right before the year ended, last year. And I was speechless. I was moved to tears.”

Keep scrolling to learn everything we know about Avatar 2: The Way of Water:

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How Long Is ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’?

While the exact runtime is unconfirmed, Cameron revealed that the unfinalized cut is over three hours long — and he doesn’t want to hear any complaints.

“I don’t want anybody whining about length when they sit and binge-watch [television] for eight hours,” Cameron told Empire Magazine in July 2022. “I can almost write this part of the review. ‘The agonizingly long three-hour movie … ’ It’s like, give me a f–king break. I’ve watched my kids sit and do five one-hour episodes in a row. Here’s the big social paradigm shift that has to happen: it’s OK to get up and go pee.”

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Fans Have Gotten Their First Look

The first teaser trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water was released in May 2022. The clip, which features almost no dialogue, gives an extensive look at Pandora’s new water world, Jake (Worthington) and Neytiri (Saldana)’s family and the menacing return of military forces who are attempting to drain the world of its resources once more. “I know one thing: wherever we go, this family is our fortress,” Jake says at the end of the teaser.

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The Full Title Has Been Announced

Cameron announced that the film’s full title — Avatar 2: The Way of Water — at CinemaCon in April 2022. The title is a reference to the underwater universe that is the setting of the second and third films in the franchise, allowing Cameron to connect his passion for ocean conservation to his filmmaking projects.

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It Will Be Released in 2022

Disney also confirmed at CinemaCon that the long-awaited sci-fi epic will be released on December 16, 2022, in North America.

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Most of the OG Cast Will Return

Along with Worthington and Saldana, both of whom signed on to all of the sequels when they made the first Avatar film, costars Dileep Rao, Joel David Moore and CCH Pounder will all reprise their roles. Interestingly, three actors whose characters died in the 2009 movie — Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang and Matt Gerald — are all returning in secret roles.

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There Are Several New Additions

Kate Winslet signed onto the film as the mysterious Ronal, one of the people who live in Pandora’s underwater world. Edie Falco and Jemaine Clement are also new additions to the human side of the film, as they will play scientists studying the Na’vi.

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The Plot Will Focus on Jake and Neytiri’s Kids

Set 14 years after the first film, Sully and Neytiri have settled down and welcomed three children, played by Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton and Trinity Bliss. The pair have also adopted a human child, Miles Socorro, who will be played by Jack Champion.

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It Will Take Place Underwater

In order to capture the underwater world as realistically as possible, Cameron actually had the actors shoot the motion capture sequences in a giant water tank. “My colleagues within the production really lobbied heavily for us to do it ‘dry for wet,’ hanging people on wires. … I even let them run a test, where we captured dry for wet, and then we captured in water, a crude level of our in-water capture. And it wasn’t even close,” he told EW.

Most of the cast got certified as scuba divers, and all of them worked with professionals to learn to free dive and hold their breath for minutes at a time. The underwater world will also introduce a new community of Na’vi called the Metkayina, who live in the reefs alongside the beaches and shores of Pandora.

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There Are Still 3 More Movies Planned

Cameron is still planning to tell the entire Avatar saga over the course of five films in total. Avatar 3 will likely be released in 2024, with the two subsequent films set for 2026 and 2028, respectively.

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It Will Feature New Technology

“[We are] pushing limits even farther with high frame rate, higher resolution 3D and greater reality in our visual effects,” Cameron said at CinemaCon. “I wanted our return to Pandora to be something really special. Every shot is designed for the biggest screen, highest resolution and most immersive 3D available. I think we pulled it off.”

Credit: Disney

What Did the Trailer Reveal?

Set over a decade after the first Avatar film, a trailer released in November 2022 hinted at a war between Colonel Quaritch and Pandora. It also included footage of the ocean and offered a glimpse at Jake and Neytiri’s growing family.

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Awards Season Accolades and Box-Office Glory

Two weeks after The Way of Water’s premiere, Disney announced that the film had surpassed $1 billion in global box office sales, becoming the No. 2 release of 2022 and the No. 3 release since the coronavirus pandemic began. Cameron previously claimed the film would need to gross $2 billion in order to break even.

The fantasy movie also racked up its first round of award nominations in December 2022, scoring Golden Globe nods for best drama and best director.