AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Recycled A Surprising Amount Of Motion Capture Footage From 2009's AVATAR

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Recycled A Surprising Amount Of Motion Capture Footage From 2009's AVATAR

With Avatar: The Way of Water now available on Digital platforms, eagle-eyed fans have noticed that filmmaker James Cameron actually recycled a surprising number of scenes from Avatar for the sequel.

By JoshWilding - Apr 28, 2023 04:04 AM EST
Filed Under: Avatar
Source: SFFGazette.com

Avatar: The Way of Water was an incredibly expensive undertaking for Disney and 20th Century Studios, though it certainly ended up paying off for them. 

James Cameron said the sequel would have to earn upwards of $2 billion to turn a profit, and it did exactly that, ensuring the franchise will continue (whatever happened, Avatar 3 was already shot and on the way, but the filmmaker has plans for fourth and fifth instalments). However, it appears he found a way to save at least some money along the way. 

As you can see in the video below (via SFFGazette.com), a handful of CG scenes from Avatar were essentially painted over and re-used for The Way of Water

While key details are changed - such as Jake Sully's face paint and the beast he's riding into battle - there's no difference between each shot of the character. There were a few occasions where that happened, and motion capture was also recycled for Zoe Saldaña's Neytiri.

It's hard to say why Cameron didn't just shoot new material, but it could be that this existing content sufficed for what they needed. Ultimately, this probably saved more time than it did money and may well have been down to a lack of talent access due to the pandemic. 

As noted, our return to the world of Pandora last year proved to be both a commercial and critical smash hit, and the sequel quickly became the third highest-grossing film of all time behind only Avatar and Avengers: Endgame after earning over $2.3 billion worldwide. The movie also received four Academy Award nominations, including "Best Picture."

There's still no news on a Blu-ray release date, meaning the only way to watch Avatar: The Way of Water at home for the time being will be to buy it on Digital platforms. That also means we can expect to wait even longer for the sequel's highly anticipated Disney+ debut.

As for Avatar 3, that's been shot and is currently set to be released in theaters on December 20, 2024.

3 small scenes being reused.
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bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 4/28/2023, 4:54 AM
I had the idea more scenes were reused. A lot felt pretty familiar
Boyle360
Boyle360 - 4/28/2023, 5:04 AM
Fair enough I guess
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 4/28/2023, 5:04 AM
Reusing scenes from the first movie? What a cheap ass flick. What a massively budgeted, cheap-ass flick.
Origame
Origame - 4/28/2023, 5:25 AM
I mean, what does it matter when the whole movie is cgi basically? It's not like most of the footage isn't done with the actors for the movie.
Fogs
Fogs - 4/28/2023, 6:19 AM
@Origame - yeah, agreed. Not an Avatar fan but it sounds nitpicky.

I mean old Disney films did it all the time.
CoHost
CoHost - 4/28/2023, 7:16 AM
@Fogs - Not old, just the ones from the 70s.
TheyDont
TheyDont - 4/28/2023, 9:15 AM
@CoHost - It was 50 years ago.
Fogs
Fogs - 4/28/2023, 1:59 PM
@CoHost @TheyDont - how to reveal old age without stating it, lol
Saga
Saga - 4/28/2023, 11:30 AM
Damn i think i saw the first one so many times i def noticed the neytiri one in the theater. I mean nothing wrong with it, at least they updated it
Saga
Saga - 4/28/2023, 11:31 AM
"Avatar 2 recycled a SURPRISING amount of shots from the first one"


3 shots...
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