In exactly 100 days, Avatar 2 will land in theaters, 13 years after the first installment. What do we know about this second opus which is likely to dynamite the cinema planet.
On September 21, the first opus ofAvatar will be released in theaters, 13 years after it was a phenomenal success, grossing $2.8 billion in worldwide revenue.
This initiative will allow viewers to refresh their memories before the release of The Way of the Water, second part of the adventures of Jake and Neytiri. There is not much time left to wait as the movie will be released in exactly 100 days from today, September 8, 2022.
WHEN ARE THE SUITES RELEASED?
La Voie de l’eau is one of the cinema’s sea serpents that we have been waiting for for many years! Firstly, james cameron had announced a release at the end of 2017. Obviously, the production is falling behind, and the director announces a postponement for the end of 2020.
Unfortunately, fate is hounding Avatar and the Covid-19 pandemic is forcing James Cameron to postpone the release of the sequels again. Disney’s takeover of Fox also played into the decision to postpone releases.
The Way of the Water will therefore land on December 14, 2022, the 3rd part December 18, 2024 on December 16, 2026 and the 5th in December 2028.
WHAT WILL IT SAY?
The plot takes place ten years after the events told in the original feature film. Jake Sully and Neytiri have become parents.
Their idyllic life, close to nature, is threatened when the Resources Development Administration, a dangerous non-governmental organization, returns to Pandora.
Forced to leave their natural habitat, Jake and his family travel to the reefs, where they believe they will find asylum. But they come across a clan, the Metkayina, with customs different from theirs.
Specifically, Jake and Neytiri are parents to three boys: Neteyam, Lo’ak, and Spider, and a girl, Kiri. Three of these children are Na’vi, with blue skin, but Spider has the appearance of a human, therefore of a different origin than his parents.
As ScreenRant points out, Spider is not Jake and Neytiri’s biological child. Real name Miles Socorro, Spider (played by Jack Champion) was born on the military base installed on Pandora, and was adopted by Jake and Neytiri.
Avatar 2: images of James Cameron’s “crazy” filming
Some time ago, producer Jon Landau explained about him: “Jake took him but Neytiri always saw him as one of the people who destroyed his house and killed his father. You have all those dynamics at play.”
Questioned by Empire, the latter specified: “Miles Socorro was too young, too small, and too weak to make the journey to Earth after Pandora was freed in the Battle of Avatar. Jake volunteered to adopt Miles, nicknamed Spider. for his agility, for him to become his full son, and he has since been raised by the entire Sully family.”
In the unveiled trailer, we see Spider furtively running next to his parents. What place will he occupy at the heart of the new plot?
WHO IS IT WITH?
Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana, star couple of the first part, resume their roles of Jake and Neytiri. Sigourney Weaver, whose character Grace Augustine died in the first installment, will return in The Way of the Water as a Na’vi teenager named Kiri, daughter of the protagonists.
For the 72-year-old actress, who once worked with James Cameron on the saga Alienthis was a chance to bring out his inner child. “I think we all pretty much remember how we felt as teenagers”she said.
“I definitely remember it. I was 5-6 feet when I was 11. I honestly thought that Kiri would feel uncomfortable most of the time. She’s looking for who she is. I was thrilled to pick that up. challenge for James Cameron”she added.
The director was aware of the work that would represent for the renowned actress. “It’s a huge challenge for an actor,” he explains. “We’re going to have a 72-year-old actress playing a character decades younger than her. Sigourney thought it was a lot of fun”says the filmmaker.
Another star joins planet Pandora for Avatar 2: Kate Winsletwho finds James Cameron 25 years later titanic. She embodies the character of Ronal, a formidable Na’vi warrior. She is a leader of the Metkayina tribe along with Tonoware (Cliff Curtis).
“Ronal is deeply loyal and a fearless leader”, pointed out Winslet at the microphone of Empire. The British actress has compared her character to famous action heroines like Sarah Connor (terminator), Ripley (Alien) and Neytiri from Avatar.
“She is powerful, she is a warrior. Even pregnant, in the face of grave danger, she joins her people and fights for what she holds most dear: her family and her home”, says Kate Winslet. The artist then returned to her relationship with director James Cameron, nearly 3 decades after their collaboration on Titanic.
“James and I are two totally different people than we were 26 years ago”explains the actress. “He’s a lot calmer, and I’m definitely more hyperactive now.”confides the actress, referring to the sometimes strong character of the filmmaker on the film sets.
A TOUGH SHOOTING
The director also asked a lot of effort from his actors, such as undergoing drastic training in order to hold out for a long time underwater without breathing.
Kate Winslet has given everything for this role, even exploding an apnea record! “I lasted 7 minutes and 14 seconds underwater, baby!”she exclaimed.
The actress broke the record for Tom Cruise of the longest underwater apnea on the set of a feature film. The interpreter of Ethan Hunt had held his breath underwater for 6 minutes to Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.
“It was awesome and I was very proud of myself. But I could probably never do it again. It happened after four weeks of pretty intense training and it was in the dive tank, in the training tank. But I loved it”said the Reading native.
“The most exciting thing for a woman my age was not learning to do something new, but downright superhuman”, she concluded. The training also served Sigourney Weaver. The interpreter of Kiri held 6 minutes in apnea on the set of this second part, the majority of the scenes of which took place in huge tanks of water.
The great ability of the actors to hold their breath underwater allowed James Cameron to avoid many interruptions on the set. An exceptional commitment to this kind of production.
THE RETURN OF BIG BAD MILES QUARITCH?
The Way of the Water will see the return of Miles Quaritch, the emblematic bad guy of the first part, embodied by Stephen Lang. If we already knew that the actor was back for Avatar 2, we assumed that it would be via flashbacks, the antagonist being dead pierced by several arrows fired by Neytiri.
The trailer, however, shows that this ruthless colonel will be alive and well ten years after the events of the first opus. But how is this possible?
One of the shots in the trailer shows a Na’vi with a tough, angular face, bearing an uncanny resemblance to this badass badass. A clue also leaves little room for doubt, his tattoo on his left arm.
Like the human version of Colonel Quaritch, this Na’vi sports a tattoo with a bird motif. Everything therefore suggests that the bad guy of the first film has himself become an Avatar.
The latter probably had to be saved by his comrades at the last moment and then taken to the Tree of Souls in order to transfer his consciousness into a Na’vi body. Jake Sully had also been saved in the same way.
The one who had a fierce hatred towards the Na’vi is now part of theirs. How will history explain this? What will Quaritch’s goal be in this second feature film? Will he always be an enemy of our heroes or now an ally?
“Stephen Lang was so excellent in the first film, it’s a privilege to see him back. I’m not going to say how we plan to bring him back, but after all, it’s science fiction. His character will evolve unexpectedly during this new trilogy”said James Cameron in 2013.
Anyway, the answers to these questions will be revealed on December 14, when the film is released. Unless clues come to support certain theories in a second trailer.
REVOLUTIONARY SPECIAL EFFECTS?
In addition to these physical feats, James Cameron has apparently succeeded once again in going further in terms of synthetic images. “VFX Artists React” specialists Sam Gorski, Wren Weichman and Ian Hubert took a closer look at the trailer for Avatar: The Waterway.
The latter explain that the synthetic images of the film are much more revolutionary than they seem.
In addition to highlighting the incredible progress made in the area of CGI skin, they analyzed a particular shot from the trailer that highlights an all-new water simulation technology patented by the leading visual effects company. of the film, Weta Digital, the company created by peter jackson.
Ian Hubert thus states: “What I find the craziest is the surface tension, the way the water comes into contact with the fabric. I don’t remember having seen that before. It’s very complex and dynamic. When the Water goes away, it stays trapped in the fabric.”
Sam Gorski for his part explains that Weta has filed numerous patents for the film: “I don’t know how many patents they’ve created, but I’ve heard people talk about 4 or 5 new patents that Weta got for water simulations, to be able to get unique shots like this.”
Wren Weichman adds that “Weta is famous around the world for successfully inventing new tools and creating new technologies for their films.”
With Avatar 2, the studio therefore seems once again to push the limits of computer graphics thanks to and should introduce techniques and technologies that the public has never seen before.