Avatar: The Way of Water facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Avatar: The Way of Water |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | James Cameron |
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| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | Simon Franglen |
| Cinematography | Russell Carpenter |
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Studios |
| Release date(s) | December 6, 2022 (Odeon Luxe Leicester Square) December 16, 2022 (United States) |
| Running time | 192 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $350–460 million |
| Money made | $2.320 billion |
Avatar: The Way of Water is an amazing science fiction film from 2022. It was directed by James Cameron, who also helped write the story and script. This movie is a sequel to the very popular film Avatar from 2009. It's the second part of the exciting Avatar movie series.
The film brings back many actors from the first movie, like Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, and Stephen Lang. Sigourney Weaver also returns in a new role, and Kate Winslet joins the cast. The story follows Jake Sully, a blue-skinned Na'vi, and his family. They have to find a new home with the Metkayina clan, a group of Na'vi who live by the ocean on the moon of Pandora. This happens because humans are threatening them again.
James Cameron first thought about making Avatar sequels in 2006. After the first movie was a huge hit, he announced two sequels in 2010. He planned for the first sequel to come out in 2014. However, making these films was a big challenge. They needed to invent new technology to film performance capture scenes underwater, which had never been done before. This caused many delays. The crew needed more time to write, plan, and create the amazing visual effects.
Filming for Avatar: The Way of Water started in August 2017 in California. It then moved to New Zealand in September 2017 and finished in late 2020. The movie cost a lot to make, between $350 and $460 million, making it one of the most expensive films ever.
Avatar: The Way of Water first showed in London on December 6, 2022. It was released in the United States on December 16. Critics generally liked the movie, especially its incredible visual effects. They thought the story was simple, but the visuals were stunning. The film was a massive success at the box office, earning over $2.3 billion worldwide. It became the highest-grossing film of 2022 and the third-highest-grossing film of all time. The movie also won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. The next Avatar film, called Avatar: Fire and Ash, is expected in December 2025.
What Happens in the Story?
Sixteen years after the Na'vi fought off the humans (called the Resources Development Administration) from Pandora, Jake Sully is now the leader of the Omatikaya clan. He lives with his family: his wife Neytiri, their two sons Neteyam and Lo'ak, their daughter Tuktirey "Tuk", and their adopted daughter Kiri. Kiri was born from Dr. Grace Augustine's Na'vi body. Miles "Spider" Socorro, the son of the human Colonel Miles Quaritch, often visits Jake's children. Spider was raised by human scientists who stayed on Pandora.
The RDA returns to Pandora to take over. This time, they have "Recombinants." These are Na'vi bodies with the memories of dead human soldiers, including a new version of Colonel Quaritch. Jake leads his people in a fight against the RDA. During a mission, Quaritch captures Jake's children. Jake and Neytiri save them, but Quaritch captures Spider. He realizes Spider is his son. Quaritch tries to get information from Spider, but fails. Instead, he decides to spend time with Spider to win him over. Spider teaches Quaritch about Na'vi culture and language.
Jake knows that Spider's knowledge could put his family in danger. So, Jake and his family leave their home and move to Pandora's eastern sea. This area is home to the Metkayina clan, a group of Na'vi who live by the ocean. The Sully family learns to live like the Metkayina. Kiri feels a special connection to the sea. Jake and Neytiri help the Metkayina chief, Tonowari, and his wife, Ronal. Lo'ak becomes friends with Tsireya, their daughter.
Lo'ak gets into a fight with Tonowari's son, Aonung, who made fun of Kiri. Jake makes Lo'ak apologize. Later, Aonung and his friends trick Lo'ak, leaving him alone in a dangerous part of the ocean. Lo'ak is saved by Payakan, a Tulkun. Tulkuns are intelligent, whale-like creatures that the Metkayina see as family. Lo'ak and Payakan become friends. When Lo'ak returns, he takes the blame for the trip and becomes friends with Aonung. But he learns that Payakan is an outcast.
Later, Kiri connects to the Metkayina's underwater Spirit Tree. She sees a vision of Grace, but then has a seizure and almost drowns. Jake calls his friends Norm Spellman and Max Patel for help. They say Kiri has epilepsy and should not connect to the Spirit Tree again.
Quaritch finds Norm and Max's aircraft near the Metkayina's home. He brings Spider and teams up with the RDA's marine hunters, who are hunting Tulkuns. Quaritch's group raids the area but cannot find Jake. So, Quaritch decides to attack villages and kill Tulkuns to make Jake show himself. Lo'ak talks to Payakan in his mind and learns Payakan was cast out for attacking human whalers who killed his mother.
When the Metkayina learn about the Tulkun killings, Lo'ak warns Payakan. His siblings join him. They find Payakan being hunted and are captured by Quaritch. Jake, Neytiri, and the Metkayina fight the humans and rescue the children. Quaritch tries to make Jake surrender by holding Kiri hostage. But Neytiri does the same with Spider, making Quaritch back down. Everyone gets trapped inside the sinking human ship.
After a tough fight, Lo'ak and Payakan rescue Jake. Kiri saves Neytiri and Tuk. Spider saves Quaritch but chooses to stay with Jake's family. After Neteyam's funeral, Jake tells Tonowari he plans to leave. But Tonowari says Jake's family is now part of the Metkayina clan and welcomes them to stay. Jake's family accepts their new life by the sea. They promise to keep fighting the RDA.
Who Are the Main Characters?
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Here are some of the main actors and the characters they play:
- Sam Worthington as Jake Sully: He was a human who became a Na'vi and fell in love with Neytiri. He now leads the Omatikaya clan.
- Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri te Tskaha Mo'at'ite: She is the daughter of the Omatikaya's former leaders and Jake's partner.
- Sigourney Weaver as Kiri te Suli Kireysi'ite: She is Jake and Neytiri's 14-year-old adopted daughter. Kiri was born from Dr. Grace Augustine's Na'vi body. Sigourney Weaver also played Dr. Grace Augustine in the first film.
- Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch: He was a human military officer who fought the Na'vi. After being killed, he returns as a "Recombinant" (a Na'vi body with his memories) to get revenge on Jake.
- Kate Winslet as Ronal: She is a skilled free diver of the Metkayina clan and the wife of Chief Tonowari. Kate Winslet learned to hold her breath for over seven minutes for her underwater scenes!
- Cliff Curtis as Tonowari: He is the chief of the Metkayina clan and Ronal's husband.
- Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman: A human scientist who helps the Na'vi.
- CCH Pounder as Mo'at: The Omatikaya's spiritual leader and Neytiri's mother.
- Jack Champion as Miles "Spider" Socorro: He is Quaritch's 16-year-old human son. Spider was born on Pandora and grew up with the Na'vi children.
- Britain Dalton as Lo'ak te Suli Tsyeyk'itan: Jake and Neytiri's 14-year-old son.
- Jamie Flatters as Neteyam te Suli Tsyeyk'itan: Jake and Neytiri's 16-year-old son and their oldest child.
- Trinity Bliss as Tuktirey "Tuk" te Suli Neytiri'ite: Jake and Neytiri's 8-year-old daughter and their youngest child.
- Bailey Bass as Tsireya "Reya": A graceful free diver of the Metkayina clan and Tonowari and Ronal's daughter.
- Filip Geljo as Aonung: A young hunter and free diver of the Metkayina, and Tonowari and Ronal's son.
How the Movie Was Made
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James Cameron started thinking about Avatar sequels in 2006. After the first movie's huge success, he decided to make more. He wanted to explore other moons of Pandora and show more of Pandora's ocean. He even planned to film underwater using a special deep-sea vehicle!
In 2013, Cameron announced that the sequels would be filmed in New Zealand. The New Zealand government helped by offering tax benefits. This meant a lot of money would be spent on making the movies there, creating jobs and helping the local film industry.
Cameron decided to make four Avatar sequels, all filmed at the same time. This was a massive project! New team members joined, including cinematographer Russell Carpenter, who worked on Cameron's Titanic. They also hired Kirk Krack, a free-diving expert, to train the cast for the underwater scenes.
Cameron confirmed that the titles for the sequels, like Avatar: The Way of Water, were being considered.
Casting the Characters
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Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña quickly agreed to return for the sequels. Even though their characters died in the first film, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang also came back. Cameron said Lang's character, Quaritch, would be the main bad guy in all five planned movies.
Many new actors joined the cast in 2017. Cliff Curtis was cast as Tonowari, the leader of the Metkayina reef people. Seven child actors were also confirmed, including Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, and Trinity Bliss as Jake and Neytiri's children. Cameron shared that the child actors trained for six months to prepare for the underwater scenes. They learned to hold their breath for two to four minutes!
In October 2017, Kate Winslet, who starred in Cameron's Titanic, joined the cast. She plays Ronal, a free diver of the Metkayina. Winslet had to learn free diving too. She held her breath for over seven minutes during filming, setting a new record for an underwater film scene!
Filming the Scenes
Filming for Avatar: The Way of Water started in August 2017 in California. It was filmed at the same time as Avatar: Fire and Ash. The budget was huge, making it one of the most expensive films ever.
A big challenge was filming underwater scenes using performance capture. This had never been done before! The team spent a year and a half developing a new system. Air bubbles from scuba gear would interfere with the sensors, so actors had to hold their breath. Also, water absorbed the infrared light used for capture, so they had to use UV light instead.
By November 2018, most of the performance capture filming was done. Some fast scenes were filmed at 48 frames per second (fps) to make movement clearer. Other parts were filmed at the standard 24 fps.
Live-action filming began in New Zealand in spring 2019. In March 2020, filming was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, virtual production continued in California. By June 2020, Cameron and the crew returned to New Zealand to finish filming after a two-week isolation period. In September 2020, Cameron confirmed that all live-action filming in New Zealand was complete.
Amazing Visual Effects
It's never been done before and it's very tricky because our motion capture system, like most motion capture systems, is what they call optical base, meaning that it uses markers that are photographed with hundreds of cameras. The problem with water is not the underwater part, but the interface between the air and the water, which forms a moving mirror. That moving mirror reflects all the dots and markers, and ... it creates thousands of false targets, so we've had to figure out how to get around that problem, which we did. ... It's taken us about a year and a half now to work out how we're going to do it.
Wētā FX, a famous visual effects company, worked on the Avatar sequels. The film has many underwater scenes, which were actually filmed underwater with the actors using performance capture. This was very difficult because water affects how motion capture works. It took the team a year and a half to create a new motion capture system that could work underwater.
In 2015, producer Jon Landau said Avatar 2 would have many new technology improvements. They used special cameras to record the actors' facial expressions. They also used two digital puppets for each actor: one that looked exactly like the actor, and another that was the character. This helped make the characters look as real as possible.
The film was finally finished on November 23, 2022.
The Movie's Music
The music for Avatar: The Way of Water was composed by Simon Franglen. He had worked with James Cameron and the original Avatar composer, James Horner, before. Franglen used some of Horner's original music from the first film, and also created new themes. The music recording for the movie started in July 2022.
The film also features an original song called "Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)" by the Canadian singer the Weeknd.
When Was the Movie Released?
Avatar: The Way of Water had its first showing in London on December 6, 2022. It was then released in theaters in the United States on December 16 by 20th Century Studios. This was the first Avatar movie released by Disney, after they bought 20th Century Fox in 2019.
The film was shown in many different formats, like RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, and IMAX. Some showings even used a special high frame rate of up to 48 frames per second. The movie was released on over 12,000 screens in the United States and Canada, and 40,000 internationally!
The film's release was delayed eight times. It was first planned for December 2014. These delays happened because the crew needed more time for writing, planning, and creating the amazing visual effects. James Cameron felt confident that the delays wouldn't hurt the movie's success. He compared it to his other successful sequels, Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which also came out many years after their first films.
Watching It at Home
Avatar: The Way of Water became available to download digitally on March 28, 2023. It included special behind-the-scenes videos. The movie was then released on Disney+ and Max streaming services on June 7, 2023. You could also buy it on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, and DVD starting June 20, 2023.
What About More Sequels?
The Way of Water is the first of four planned sequels to Avatar. Avatar: Fire and Ash started filming at the same time as this movie. Many actors from the first two films are expected to return, and new actors like Oona Chaplin and Michelle Yeoh will join.
According to Kirk Krack, the free-diving trainer, the next movie, Fire and Ash, will have less water scenes than The Way of Water. The fourth and fifth movies will have even fewer. The ocean scenes for all the sequels were filmed together during the production of The Way of Water.
James Cameron said that if Avatar 2 and 3 didn't make enough money, they might not make 4 and 5. However, after The Way of Water was a huge success at the box office, Cameron confirmed that the other sequels are definitely happening! He said, "It looks like with the momentum that the film has now that we'll easily pass our break even in the next few days, so it looks like I can't wiggle out of this and I'm gonna have to do these other sequels."
See also
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema
- List of films featuring extraterrestrials
- List of films with the longest production time
- List of highest-grossing films
- List of most expensive films
- List of underwater science fiction works
