Avatar: The Way of Water Film

Avatar: The Way of Water is a 2022 American epic science fiction film. It was co-produced and directed by James Cameron. Cameron co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver from a story the trio wrote with Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno. Distributed by 20th Century Studios, it is the sequel to Avatar (2009) and the second installment in the Avatar film series.

Kate Winslet joins the cast, Sigourney Weaver returns in an additional role, and the following cast members reprise their roles from the original film: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, and Matt Gerald.

The film follows a blue-skinned humanoid Na’vi named Jake Sully (played by Worthington) as he and his family, under renewed threat from humans, seek refuge with the Metkayina, an aquatic clan living on the habitable exomoon Pandora.

Cameron had said in 2006 that he would like to make sequels to Avatar if it turned out to be successful, and after it did, he announced, in 2010, the first two sequels, intending to release the first of them in 2014. However, the addition of two more sequels, for a total of five Avatar films, and the necessity to develop new technology to film performance capture scenes underwater, a feat never accomplished before, led to significant delays to allow the crew more time to work on the writing, preproduction, and visual effects. The filming process, which occurred simultaneously with a currently untitled third film, began in Manhattan Beach, California, on August 15, 2017. The filming location moved to Wellington on September 25, 2017, which ended in late September 2020 after three years of shooting. With an estimated budget of $350–460 million, the film is one of the most expensive films ever made.

After repeated delays in the expected release schedule, Avatar: The Way of Water premiered at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London on December 6, 2022, and was released in the United States on December 16. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the visual effects and technical achievements but criticized the plot and lengthy runtime. It was a major box office success, breaking multiple records, and grossing over $2.320 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2022, the highest-grossing film since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the third-highest-grossing film of all time. The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named The Way of Water one of the top-ten films of 2022. Among its many accolades, the film was nominated for four awards at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Best Visual Effects. Three further sequels are in production, with the next film set to be released in December 2025.

Avatar: The Way of Water Film

STORY

Sixteen years after the Na’vi repelled the Resources Development Administration (RDA) from Pandora, Jake Sully lives as chief of the Omatikaya clan and raises a family with Neytiri, which includes two sons Neteyam and Lo’ak, his daughter Tuk, and adopted daughter Kiri (born from Grace Augustine’s inert avatar). Spider, son of the late Colonel Miles Quaritch, frequently visits their children while being raised by the scientists who stayed on Pandora. The RDA, led by its new leader, Frances Ardmore, returns to colonize Pandora. Among the new arrivals are Recombinants, Na’vi avatars implanted with the memories of deceased human soldiers. Quaritch’s Recombinant serves as their leader.

A year later, Jake leads a guerilla campaign against the RDA. During a counterinsurgency mission, Quaritch and his subordinates capture Jake’s children. Jake and Neytiri arrive and free them, but Spider is captured by Quaritch, who recognizes him as his son. After the RDA fails to get information from Spider, Quaritch decides to spend time with his son to draw him to his side. In turn, Spider teaches Quaritch about Na’vi culture and language.

Aware of the danger posed by Spider’s knowledge of his whereabouts, Jake and his family exile themselves from the Omatikaya and retreat to Pandora’s eastern sea, where the Metkayina clan gives them refuge. There, the family learns the ways of the reef people, Kiri develops a spiritual bond with the sea, and Lo’ak befriends Tsireya, the daughter of Chief Tonowari and his wife Ronal.

After defending Kiri against Tonowari’s son Aonung, Lo’ak apologizes at Jake’s insistence. Aonung and his friends then entice Lo’ak to a trip into a sea predator’s territory and leave him stranded. Lo’ak is saved from the predator and befriended by Payakan, a Tulkun—an intelligent and pacifist whale-like species whom the Metkayina consider their spiritual brethren. Upon his return, Lo’ak wins Aonung’s friendship by taking the blame for the trip but is told that Payakan is an outcast among the Tulkun. Later, Kiri links to the Metkayina’s underwater Spirit Tree and, in a vision, meets her biological mother, Grace. Kiri suffers a seizure during the link-induced trance and nearly drowns.

Jake summons Norm Spellman and Max Patel for help. They diagnose Kiri with epilepsy and warn that she cannot connect to the Spirit Tree again, as doing so may kill her. While Ronal heals Kiri, Quaritch tracks Norm and Max’s aircraft to the archipelago where the Metkayina live. Bringing Spider with him, Quaritch joins forces with the RDA’s marine operations, led by Captain Mick Scoresby, and commandeers a whaling vessel that hunts Tulkuns.

Quaritch’s squad raids the archipelago, interrogating tribes about Jake’s location to no avail. Quaritch then orders the whalers to kill Tulkuns near the villages to draw Jake out. Lo’ak mentally links with Payakan and learns that he was cast out because he went against the pacifist ways of his species and attacked the whalers who killed his mother, causing many deaths to the Tulkun.

When the Metkayina learns of the Tulkun killings, Lo’ak rushes off to warn Payakan, followed by his siblings and friends. They find Payakan being hunted, and Quaritch captures Lo’ak, Tsireya, and Tuk. Jake, Neytiri, and the Metkayina set out to confront the humans and rescue the kids. Quaritch forces Jake to surrender, but Payakan attacks the vessel, triggering a fight between the Metkayina and the humans. Spider cripples the vessel, and Neteyam rescues Lo’ak, Tsireya, and Spider but is fatally shot by one of Quaritch’s men. Jake and Neytiri return to save their remaining children, who were recaptured. Jake faces Quaritch, who uses Kiri as a hostage. When Neytiri does the same with Spider, Quaritch initially denies their relationship but desists once Neytiri cuts Spider. Jake, Quaritch, Neytiri, and Tuk are trapped inside the sinking vessel. After a tense skirmish, Jake strangles Quaritch unconscious and is rescued by Lo’ak and Payakan, while Kiri recovers Neytiri and Tuk. Spider rescues Quaritch but refuses to go with him and rejoins Jake’s family.

After Neteyam’s funeral, Jake informs Tonowari of his decision to leave the Metkayina. Still, the chief respectfully identifies Jake as part of the clan and welcomes him and his family to stay. Jake and his family accept their new lives at sea but vow to resume their campaign against the RDA.

CAST

• Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, a former human who fell in love with Neytiri and befriended the Na’vi after becoming a member of the Avatar Program, eventually taking their side in their conflict with humans and leading them to victory. He left his human body to permanently become Na’vi and is now chief of the Omatikaya.
• Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri te Tskaha Mo’at’ite (Neytiri Sully), the daughter of the previous clan chief, future Tsahìk of the clan, and Jake’s mate.
• Sigourney Weaver as Kiri te Suli Kireysi’ite (Kiri Sully), the 14-year-old daughter of Dr. Grace Augustine’s Na’vi avatar who was adopted by Jake and Neytiri. Weaver originally appeared in the first film as Dr. Grace Augustine, a human scientist who took the side of the Na’vi and died during the conflict. Her Na’vi avatar is revealed to have birthed Kiri despite her death. Like most of the cast, she learned free-diving for the film and filmed scenes underwater.
  • Weaver also reprises her role as Dr. Grace Augustine, despite Weaver’s saying in 2014 that she would not do so, though she and Cameron confirmed prior to then that she would return in the sequels: she appears in this film in a video recording and in a spiritual vision in which she meets with Kiri.
• Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch, a human military officer who led the paramilitary security division of the RDA in their conflict with the Na’vi. After being killed by Neytiri in 2154, he is revived as a Recombinant and seeks revenge against Jake and his family. Cameron said in 2010 that Lang would return in the first three sequels, stating, “I’m not going to say exactly how we’re bringing him back, but it’s a science fiction story, after all. His character will evolve into really unexpected places across the arc of our new three-film saga.” He later said Quaritch would act as the main antagonist once again, in all four sequels.
  • Lang also reprises his role as the original human Quaritch of the first movie in a video recording made for his Recombinant self.
• Kate Winslet as Ronal, a free diver of the Metkayina and Tonowari’s wife who is pregnant. Winslet called Ronal “a pivotal character in the ongoing story” but also “relatively small comparative to the lengthy shoot” since shooting all her scenes only took a month. It marks her first time working with performance capture, and motion capture altogether. She, like most of the cast, also had to learn free diving for the film; while filming an underwater scene, she held her breath for over seven minutes, a new record for any film scene shot underwater.
• Cliff Curtis as Tonowari, the chief of the Metkayina clan and Ronal’s husband
• Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman, a former member of the Avatar Program who chose to side with the Na’vi in the first film.
• CCH Pounder as Mo’at, the Omatikaya’s Tsahìk, and Neytiri’s mother.
• Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore, the commander in charge of the RDA’s interests.
• Brendan Cowell as Captain Mick Scoresby, the head of an RDA private sector marine hunting vessel on the moon of Pandora.
• Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin, a marine biologist working for the RDA.
• Jamie Flatters as Neteyam te Suli Tsyeyk’itan (Neteyam Sully), Jake and Neytiri’s 16-year-old son and oldest child.
  • Jeremy Irwin as young Neteyam.
  • Joel David Moore’s son Oliver cameos as the infant Neteyam.
• Britain Dalton as Lo’ak te Suli Tsyeyk’itan (Lo’ak Sully), Jake and Neytiri’s 14-year-old son.
  • Chloe Coleman as young Lo’ak.
• Trinity Jo-Li Bliss as Tuktirey “Tuk” te Suli Neytiri’ite (Tuktirey “Tuk” Sully), Jake and Neytiri’s 8-year-old daughter and their youngest child.
• Jack Champion as Miles “Spider” Socorro, the 16-year-old son of Quaritch born in Hell’s Gate (the human base on Pandora in the first film) who was raised by scientists who stayed back on Pandora and wears Na’vi attire and an oxygen mask when outside a building. He is inseparable from Jake and Neytiri’s children.
• Bailey Bass as Tsireya (“Reya”), a graceful and strong free diver of the Metkayina and Tonowari and Ronal’s daughter
• Filip Geljo as Aonung, a young male hunter, a free diver of the Metkayina, and Tonowari and Ronal’s son
• Duane Evans Jr. as Rotxo, a young male hunter and free diver of the Metkayina
• Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, the former corporate administrator for the RDA mining operation, who appears in a recording made for Quaritch’s Recombinant.
• Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel, a scientist who worked in the Avatar Program and came to support Jake’s rebellion against the RDA in the first film.
• Matt Gerald as Corporal Lyle Wainfleet, a human mercenary who fought and died in the RDA’s battle against the Na’vi in 2154 where he was trampled by a Hammerhead titanothere. Following the RDA’s return to Pandora, he is revived as a Recombinant and placed under Quaritch’s command. Gerald was announced to reprise his role in August 2017.
  • Gerald also reprises his role as the original human Wainfleet from the first film shown in Quaritch’s video recording.

PRODUCTION

In 2006, Cameron said if Avatar (2009) were successful, he would consider making two sequels. In 2010, he said the sequels would proceed as planned as a result of the film’s widespread success. The sequels were originally scheduled for release in December 2014 and 2015. He included certain scenes in the first film for future story follow-ups. Cameron planned to shoot the sequels back-to-back and to begin work “once the novel is nailed down”. He said the sequels would widen the universe while exploring other moons of Polyphemus. The first sequel would focus on the ocean of Pandora and also feature more of the rainforest. He intended to capture footage for the sequel at the bottom of the Mariana Trench using a deepwater submersible. In 2011, Cameron said he was just starting to design the ocean ecosystem of Pandora and the other worlds to be included in the story. The storyline, although continuing the environmental theme of the first film, would not be “strident” since the film will concentrate on entertainment. The sequels were confirmed as continuing to follow the characters of Jake and Neytiri in December 2009. Cameron implied that the humans would return as the antagonists of the story. In 2011, Cameron said he would film the sequels at a higher frame rate than the industry standard 24 frames per second, to add a heightened sense of reality.

In 2013, Cameron announced that the sequels would be filmed in New Zealand, with performance capture to take place in 2014. An agreement with the New Zealand government required at least one world premiere to be held in Wellington and at least NZ$500 million (approximately US$410 million at December 2013 exchange rates) to be spent on production activity in New Zealand, including live-action filming and visual effects. The New Zealand government announced it would raise its baseline tax rebate for filmmaking from 15% to 20%, with 25% available to international productions in some cases and 40% for New Zealand productions (as defined by section 18 of the New Zealand Film Commission Act 1978).

Cameron mentioned a possible third sequel for the first time in 2012; and was officially confirmed the following year. Cameron was then looking to release Avatar 2 in 2015, but later that year, production was rescheduled for 2014, with the film to be released in December 2016, and to be followed by the two other sequels in 2017 and 2018. By 2015, the scheduled release dates for the sequels were each delayed by another year, with the first sequel expected to be released in December 2017; this was due to the writing process, which Cameron called “a complex job”. The following month, Fox announced a further release delay. In February 2016, production of the sequels was scheduled to begin in April 2016 in New Zealand. In April 2016, Cameron announced at CinemaCon that there will be four Avatar sequels, all of which will be filmed simultaneously.

New crew members include cinematographer Russell Carpenter, who worked with Cameron on True Lies (1994) and Titanic (1997), and Aashrita Kamath, who will act as art director on all four sequels. Kirk Krack, founder of Performance Freediving International, worked as a free-diving trainer for the cast and crew for the underwater scenes. Several creatures that were first introduced in the Walt Disney World theme park attraction Avatar Flight of Passage were featured in the film.

In 2019, after several media outlets shared rumors of potential titles for the Avatar sequels, including the name Avatar: The Way of Water, Cameron confirmed that the titles mentioned were “among titles that are in consideration” but had not been finalized at the time.

In 2022, Cameron said that about ten minutes of “gunplay action” were cut from the film as he was no longer inclined to “fetishize the gun”, although he is known as an “action filmmaker”.

RELEASE

December 16, 2022

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