A new full-length trailer is giving audiences around the world a closer look at James Cameron’s upcoming sequel to his groundbreaking film, ‘Avatar’, which came out nearly 13 years ago.
The two-and-a-half minute teaser to ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ dropped on Wednesday and already has over 19 million views. It kicks off by showing the main characters from the previous film, Jake and Neytiri, who now have several children together.
The sequel will apparently focus on exploring the waters of Pandora – the planet where the blue-skinned Na’vi aliens live.
While the original 2009 film concluded with the Na’vi winning a decisive battle against the human colonizers that were attempting to exploit the planet for its natural resources, it seems the war is back on, as the new teaser shows glimpses of humans in advanced weaponized “mech suits” preparing to once again battle the natives.
As for why it took a whopping 13 years to release the sequel, James Cameron explained in a 2021 interview with Entertainment Weekly that the blockbuster had been in the works since 2012 but only began filming in 2017. The filmmaker also said that the main challenge in making the movie was that it was set underwater and required more advanced rendering technologies, as well as a specially-built 3.4 million liter tank, for filming.
The upcoming ‘Avatar’ sequel is set to be released in theaters on December 16, with another two films on the horizon for the franchise.