Sure, James Cameron's Avatar films are known for their stunning VFX but it's still surprising to learn that Avatar: The Way of Water only has two scenes in the movie that don't have any VFX touch-ups whatsoever.
Metro caught up with the sequel's VFX team (Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, and Eric Saindon) at the BAFTA's (British Academy Film Awards), where the group revealed the identity of the two scenes in question.
"There’s one of Spider’s [Jack Champion] eyeball and there’s one of the bottom of the ocean and just some ripples in the bottom of the water," revealed Snider. Sandon went on to add, "There’s lots of live action, lots of characters with CG but every other scene, VFX shots were touched."
Cinematography purists are likely gnashing their teeth at this revelation but the general audience sure doesn't seem to mind as Avatar: The Way of Water currently ranks #3 on the all-time worldwide box office gross list with $2.247 billion and counting.
The VFX team certainly put the sequel's estimated $460 million budget to good use as all those VFX shots went on to earn the film several accolades including Best Special Visual Effects at the BAFTAs, Best Visual Effects at The Critic's Choice Awards and several wins at this year's Visual Effects Society Awards. The film also figures to be a shoo-in to win the Best Visual Effects award at this year's Academy Awards, taking place on March 12.
The third entry in the Avatar franchise was filmed simultaneously with The Way of Water so don't expect another 13 years between installments. There are plans in place for Avatar 4 and 5 as well, however, Disney and Fox were waiting to see how The Way of Water performed at the box office before officially greenlighting those projects. It's probably safe to assume at this point that it's now a question of 'when' and not 'if.'