James Cameron reveals the real reason why fans are waiting so long for Avatar 2

Virgin Radio

15 Dec 2021, 09:58

It’s taken almost a decade to put the plans together for the long-awaited sequels (all 4 of them), but now fans of the sci-fi franchise can finally have an update. 

We were first introduced to the Na’vi tribe all the way back in 2009, and the cinematic marvel is still the highest-grossing movie of all time, having knocked 2019’s Avengers: Endgame off the top spot with a Chinese cinema re-release earlier this year. 

Across the world, the historic flick has earned a whopping $2.8 billion at the box office. 

For director James Cameron though, the monumental success of the first film put pressure on the confirmed sequels, Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5, and it was a case of go-hard-or-go-home.

Plans for the sequels started in 2012, and filming for Avatar 2 started in 2017, with the story set around 14 years after the original, with Sam Worthington’s former human soldier Jake now settling down with Na’vi warrior Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana, and their pre-teen children.

It’s not just a case of rebooting the same motion capture suits as used in the first film, but James wanted his new movies to be set in and out of water, meaning they had to construct a 900,000-gallon tank to mimic the waves of the ocean and realistically show how characters would interact below sea level.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, James said: “It sounds kind of nuts, the process. I mean, if Avatar hadn't made so much money, we'd never do this — because it's kind of crazy.

“My colleagues within the production really lobbied heavily for us to do it 'dry for wet,' hanging people on wires. I said, 'It's not going to work. It's not going to look real.' 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."

Much of the cast also had to learn how to scuba dive, but air bubbles interfered with the capture process, so the actors had to quickly become free diving experts - meaning they had to hold their breath for minutes at a time. 

James also shared that 72-year-old Sigourney Weaver can now hold her breath for six-and-half-minutes for her top-secret new role in the sequel. 

It might sound like the herculean efforts to make the film as real as possible will mean we won’t catch up with the Na’vi characters for decades, but principle photography has already finished on the third instalment, which is due for release in 2024.

Avatar 2 is currently scheduled for 16th December next year, while the fourth and fifth films are due out in 2026 and 2028.