'We put all our love into this one' - 'Avatar' sequel finally premieres 13 years after original

Record ID: 1701031

  • Title: 'We put all our love into this one' - 'Avatar' sequel finally premieres 13 years after original
  • Date: 6th December 2022
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 6, 2022) (REUTERS) CROWDS ON RED CARPET FOR WORLD PREMIERE OF "AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER" VARIOUS OF ACTOR KATE WINSLET SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS ACTOR SAM WORTHINGTON ON RED CARPET, TALKING WITH ANIMATOR AND VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR RICHIE BANEHAM (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, SAM WORTHINGTON, SAYING: "Look, it's fantastic. You know this isn't just a movie that we made. This was a labour of love that, you know, spread out over a decade. So it's great to finally be able to share it."
  • Embargoed: 20th December 2022 21:18
  • Keywords: Avatar Avatar London premiere Avatar Way of Water premiere Avatar premiere Avatar the Way of Water Avatar world premiere James Cameron Kate Winslet Sam Worthington Sigourney Weaver Zoe Zaldana
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: UK
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Film
  • Reuters ID: LVA001481906122022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Thirteen years after James Cameron released the highest-grossing film of all time, "Avatar", the filmmaker finally premiered its long-awaited sequel in London on Tuesday (December 6).
    "Avatar: The Way of Water" takes audiences back to the enchanting world of Pandora, where in the first film the native blue Na'vi people battled human colonists for the moon’s natural resources.
    Set more than a decade later, "The Way of Water" sees actors Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana return as Jake Sully and Neytiri, now parents of five children.
    Their peaceful life in the paradise-like jungle is interrupted by the return of the “Sky People”, the Na’vi name for humans, who are after Sully. To protect their family and their tribe, Sully, Neytiri and their children flee to a far-flung territory and seek refuge with the oceanic Metkayina clan.
    Their bodies and skills suited to forest life, the family must quickly learn the ways of the water to survive while facing their enemy's nearing threat.
    "This was a labour of love spread out over a decade, so it's great to finally be able share it," Worthington told Reuters at the film's world premiere.
    "This is a heart-wrenching story, it's mighty, it's very powerful, you hope that it connects (with audiences) but it's not just the carbon copy of the first one, we've really expanded the world, we've expanded this family unit."
    Saldana said reprising her role was "emotional".
    "It was exciting, it was also very scary because obviously Jim had raised the stakes for himself, that meant that everybody was going to have a brand new challenge to have to deal with," she said.
    Sigourney Weaver plays Kiri, Neytiri and Sully's adopted daughter, who is 14.
    Her biological mother is Dr. Grace Augustine, who Weaver played in the original movie.
    The 73-year-old said she met Cameron for lunch to discuss the movie and taking on the role of the teenage girl.
    "We didn't really talk about could I do it. It was more like you're going to do this. And then he said 'I know that you are still 14, you're very immature, you clown around. Nobody else knows that but you. So I knew you could do this'. I was like, was that a compliment or...?" she said.
    Released in 2009, "Avatar" ranks as the top-grossing film of all time with more than $2.9 billion in global ticket sales.
    Actors Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, who was born the year the original movie came out and stars as Tuktirey and Jack Champion, who plays Spider, said shooting the film's many underwater scenes were the most challenging.
    "I guess free diving, like having to hold my breath underwater and with everyone and we're in the scene and we're connecting to the emotion of the scene and each other, that was definitely something I didn't expect," said Bliss.
    "I think learning to hold my breath for like five minutes and 33 seconds is definitely my favourite thing that I learnt. I think, I never thought I could even go past a minute so it really opened my eyes to that," added Champion.
    Four "Avatar" movies are planned through 2028.
    "I never had any doubt that this day would come because I'd read all four of the scripts ... but I think that the enormity of the task, of the world-building ... creating this whole new level of detail ... that was difficult," producer Jon Landau said, adding most of the third movie had been filmed.
    "We shot a lot of 'Three' because the kids are ageing out, so we had to do that through, just through necessity. But you know, we're very humble in the thing that we only get to do the rest of them if this does connect. So, you know, we put all our love into this one," said Worthington.
    (Production: Ben Makori, Hanna Rantala)
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