For 13 long years, Avatar 2 has been in the making. The director, at the time of the original film’s premiere, did not envision how huge it would become or for how long it would go on to stay at the top of the billion-dollar blockbuster club. Avatar had become famous, or rather infamous, for its epic metaphors which James Cameron applied liberally to the script — the slow degradation of the environment, the corruption of humanity, and the selfish exploitation of all the things that lay in front of them.
But the heavy themes were balanced out in a beautifully wrapped story which delivered a hypnotizing vision on the big screen with its bigger-than-life characters and the vast expansive oasis of Pandora. As an attempt to make something as equally beautiful and as terrifying in its impact as the first movie, Avatar: The Way of Water finally takes shape as 2022 enters its midnight hour.
Avatar 2 Aims For More Star Power as The Weeknd Steps in
The Weeknd, who contributed to such musical masterpieces as Blinding Lights, Save Your Tears, and Call Out My Name, and lent his voice to films like The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Fifty Shades of Grey, and Black Panther has now been ushered into the world of Pandora. On the morning of 4th November, the singer dropped the Avatar 2 logo with a chorus singing in the background on his social media account, promoting the film’s release.
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A few hours later, the Avatar family reciprocated by retweeting The Weeknd’s post from their official account, and Jon Landau personally welcomed the Starboy singer by posting a picture of them standing together while the caption read: “As the Na’vi say, ‘Zola’u nìprrte’ soaiane Avatar’… Welcome to the Avatar family.” The Weeknd is yet to confirm his role in the sequel and whether he will contribute to the entire soundtrack or influence the emotional drive of the narrative like Rihanna did with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
James Cameron’s Avatar 2: What You Can Expect
Expectations and ambitions clash in James Cameron’s vision of Avatar 2. In a definitive move of supremacy over Hollywood’s limitations, the director pushes beyond the boundaries of technological advancements to deliver a story that is unprecedented both in its onscreen portrayal and in its behind-the-scenes dominion. A vision that takes more than a decade of active thinking to bring alive on the screen will be expected to be nothing shorter than an indomitable masterwork of art, but the director’s ambition to explore the expansive Pandora and extend the lives encapsulated within the realm takes control over the audience’s generic demand for grandeur.
Avatar: The Way of Water keeps true to the chronology and is set a decade after the original film’s events. The plot primarily focuses on the Sully family as Jake and Neytiri become parents to two children, and follows their journey of love, endurance, and fight for survival. The film, with a currently prevalent budget of over $350 million has become one of the most expensive films in making with Cameron stating that Avatar 2 would need to break the charts as the third or fourth highest-grossing film of all time simply to break even.
Also read: Why James Cameron Took So Long To Make Avatar 2
Based on the reception and success of Avatar 2, the green-lit sequels — Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 — will assume priority. Meanwhile, the principal photography for Avatar 3 had already begun as early as 2017. The three sequels are slated for release in 2024, 2026, and 2028.
Avatar: The Way of Water premieres on December 16, 2022.
Source: Instagram | The Weeknd
