Avatar: The Way of Water was a notoriously delayed project. Writer-director James Cameron first announced the sequel to his 2009 hit avatar in 2010, with the aim of releasing it in 2014 and moving on to a third Avatar film in 2015. But each time the release date got closer, Cameron would announce a new delay, pushing back the releases for another year – or more. And all of those jumps in the release calendar happened before the COVID-19 pandemic halted production and made long film delays and schedule shifts commonplace.
The reasons for the delays were often vague. Cameron has spoken about the “logistical and technical elements” involved in producing multiple films back-to-back, particularly after announcing two more sequels would follow avatar 3, for a total of five films. And the complexity of shooting Avatar: The Way of Water, as seen in early behind-the-scenes footage, indicate the film’s unusual production difficulties.
But in a recent interview with Polygon, avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water Producer Jon Landau says the production and release delays weren’t primarily due to the fact that it was about bringing aquatic Na’vi and their detailed whale friends to life.
“We didn’t have to wait for technology here,” he said. “I think the first avatar proved to us that we can be the catalyst to get technology where we need to go.”
Instead, he says, the delays were due to the filmmaking team’s determination to get the scripts for all four planned films avatar Written and completed sequels before moving on avatar 2 even started.
“We felt like this project was about getting the story right,” he said. “You would never build a house until you had the blueprint to build from. The scripts are that blueprint. So we wanted to wait until all four were there.”
This decision could be related to the cast of the child actors who serve as the main actors in Avatar: The Way of Water. The film continues the story of space marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) assuming the avatar body of a Na’vi, a 10-foot felinoid native to the planet Pandora, and eventually a native Na’vi woman , Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) as sidekick. But in The way of the water
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Image: 20th Century Studios
That seems likely avatar 3 – was shot from back to back The way of the water – will continue the story threads left open at the end avatar 2and the avatar 4 will first continue the story of the children and then make a time jump to adulthood. Cameron has confirmed that the “first act” of avatar 4 was already shot, although there is no guarantee that the story will continue beyond the third film. Landau teased the reasons:
“It turned out that there were logistical reasons why we didn’t just have to shoot film two and film three, but now the first act of part four. We couldn’t wait to do it later,” he said. “So we wanted to put that all in place. And then we thought we could be the impetus again to push the technology to tell those stories.”
Landau confirms that “the Sully kids” will be the fulcrum for the Avatar films and the vehicle for introducing new generations to new Pandora locations, such as the coastal region, where much of it occurs The way of the water occur.
“They are, in many ways, our gateway into this new world of Pandora that we’re moving into,” he said. “It’s a family story. But it is not only told from the perspective of the parents. It is also told from the perspective of children – children struggling to find their place in life. One of them feels like an outcast. Another asks about her origins, where she comes from at all. These are things that people struggle with today – it makes it understandable. It’s the Sully kids with whom we have our first swim experience on the reef. We see it through their eyes. And now, as we work through the films, we’ll grow up with them as we continue in the saga.”
Avatar: The Way of Water is now in cinemas. The third film is scheduled for release in December 2024, with films 4 and 5 scheduled for release in 2026 and 2028, respectively.
