James Cameron has released new footage of his forthcoming Avatar sequel The Way of Water, in the form of a two-and-a-half minute trailer released online on Wednesday.
Avatar: The Way of Water is the follow-up to Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi blockbuster which remains the highest-grossing film of all time. It stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña and Sigourney Weaver, and is set more than a decade later than Avatar. According to the official synopsis, it “tells 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”.
In September Weaver said that “it’s very much based on Jim’s family and his joy in the family; and also, how vulnerable you are when you have children.”
Cameron has spent years developing and shooting Avatar’s sequels, with photography for The Way of Water starting in 2017, simultaneously with a third film in the series which is due for release in 2024. Cameron is also working on a fourth and fifth film, for projected release in 2026 and 2028 respectively. Much of Cameron’s effort has gone into developing film-making technology to allow performance-capture underwater. The first trailer for the film was released in May.
Avatar: The Way of Water is out on the 16 December in the UK and US.
