In this article, we interview John Lando with Empire Magazine about Avatar 2. An interview in which the story of the film and the return process of James Cameron to direct this work is discussed. Be with Euro international News
The telling of a love story in a science fiction world and the great leap of filmmaking technology with motion capture systems and 3D technology were all made possible by the film “Avatar“. The work, which became one of the seventh art historians and penetrated the popular culture with its two billion-dollar (!) Intellectual sales in 2009. A work that, while challenging numbers, is a turning point for cinemagoers and a symbol of the “cinematic experience” in cinemas.
AVATAR 2
Release date: December 16, 2022
Despite the exceedingly long wait – Avatar arrived to smash box-office records back in 2009 – the sequel is nearly upon us. So what took so long? In large part, producer Jon Landau says, it was down to writing not one but four scripts for the planned series of sequels up to Avatar 5.
“The scripts are the blueprint from which we work,” Landau tells Total Film. “So a large portion of our time was writing… with the challenge that each of those four scripts had to individually resolve itself in a story that concludes with a big emotional resolution – but when you look at them as a whole, the connected story arc of all four movies creates an even larger epic saga.”
Avatar 2 specifically picks up with the Sully family, and as much time has elapsed in the story world as in reality. Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) are now parents. “I think the story of Avatar 2, and the strength of the story, is what Jim [Cameron] always does in any of his movies: he writes in universal themes that are bigger than any one genre,” explains Landau. “And if you think about this, there’s really no more universal theme than family. At the center of each of our sequels is the Sully family. What are the dynamics that parents go through to protect their family?”
The Sullys’ idyllic life is disrupted when the RDA mining operation returns to Pandora, forcing Jake to take the family to “what is perceived as a safe harbor” at the reef. “And when you get to the reef, there’s a clan we call the Metkayina,” continues Landau. “The Sullys are no longer in the environment that they know, the rainforest. They become the fish out of water. They become the fish out of water both culturally and just environmentally.”
The Avatar 2 Trailer Is Out Next Week, and Here’s What’s in It
These eyes have seen a sight I never thought I’d see: a trailer for Avatar 2. After over a decade of development and production, writer-director James Cameron finally debuted the teaser trailer for his long-awaited, highly anticipated sequel at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. And while you can’t see it just yet, you’ll see it soon. Here’s what you need to know.
First of all, the film is no longer called “Avatar 2.” The official title is Avatar: The Way of Water and it’ll be in theaters on December 16. Before that though, Disney will re-release the original Avatar, with remastered picture and sound, in theaters on September 23. Plenty of time for fans and audiences to get reacquainted with Pandora, the Na’vi, and the highest-grossing film in history. (It’s also on Disney+ too.)
Also, the film’s producer Jon Landau said that each of the upcoming four sequels will center on the family of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) but will also stand alone. “Each story will come to its own conclusion and each movie will deliver audiences fulfilling, emotional resolutions,” Landau said. “However, when looked at as a whole, the journey across all four movies will create an even larger, connected, epic saga.”
As for the trailer, it’ll debut in theaters exclusively with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is out May 6. That’ll be the only place audiences can officially check it out. It’s expected to debut online a week later.
So, what’s in it? Well, it begins with those big, familiar clusters of vines high above the ground and a family of Na’vi, some big, some small, running and jumping around them. There’s a close up on the face of Neytiri, as she watches something with care, followed by a shot from high overhead of four Na’vi flying on the backs of what look like Pandoran Banshees over a vast ocean of water. They fly over big, almost coral structures in the sea with lots of Na’vi standing on them. There’s no talking over any of this. Just sweet, quiet music with hints of James Horner’s themes.
We then see an industrial area with humans and fully dressed Na’vi walking and talking together. A few helicopters taking off. Then shots of Na’vi swimming underwater. This is the big thing with this sequel, hence the title, and honestly… it didn’t even look like there was water. You know it’s water, it’s all blue and there are fish and a creature swimming, but it looked almost like they were swimming through the air. To be fair though, the footage is barely a few seconds and I was further back in the theater. It looks beautiful but not 100% convincing as water.
The trailer then ramps up into a bit of a montage. Some of the shots include Jake and Neytiri trapped in what looks like a flooded submarine. Them spying on a group of humans. Shots of Na’vi swimming alongside whales, holding their fins with a single hand. And even Jake in a shot that looks like he’s floating on water but then you realize he’s riding a creature that can both fly in water and in the air. Oh, and Jake now has a haircut. It looks very military. Dark, short, tightly cropped to his head.
“I know one thing,” Jake says in the trailer’s only dialogue. “Wherever we go, this family is our fortress.” The whole thing runs about 90 seconds.
After 12 years of waiting, will this trailer be enough to get people excited for Avatar again? We’ll see. What it will do it let people know that Avatar is coming back and this lyrical trailer will absolutely get everyone’s attention once it drops in theaters and online later.
