Avatar: The Way of Water is the first of four sequels James Cameron has planned to his record-breaking 2009 movie, though only that and Avatar 3 have been shot. The filmmaker has already said the third movie will be the last if these next two chapters don't live up to box office expectations, and reaching the heights of its predecessor might be easier said than done.
Cameron has been working on the sequel since 2013, and recently showed GQ (via SFFGazette.com) a single effects shot that was numbered 405. "That means there’s been 405 versions of this before it gets to me," he revealed, emphasising exactly how much work has gone into the movie.
That must mean it was an expensive undertaking, right?
"Very [frick]ing [expensive]," Cameron says, adding that he outright told Disney Avatar: The Way of Water represented, "the worst business case in movie history." In order to be profitable, he claims to have been told, "you have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. That’s your threshold. That’s your break even."
Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Titanic, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Avengers: Infinity War are the top five highest-grossing movies of all time, and each of them earned over $2 billion worldwide. That means the Avatar sequel will need to do the same, a tricky undertaking due to the pandemic and a lack of interest in the 3D format after all those bad conversions.
Still, Disney may be thinking beyond box office with this one, taking merchandise sales and an increased interest in Disney World's Pandora into account when mulling over future plans.
With Avatar: The Way of Water, the franchise reaches new heights as Cameron transports audiences back to the magnificent world of Pandora in a spectacular and stirring action-packed adventure.
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, the sequel begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
Avatar: The Way of Water splashes down in theaters worldwide on December 16.