The latest photos from the Avatar 2 set highlight the underwater technology James Cameron is using to film the sequel. Cameron, of course, broken his own box office when he released the original Avatar in 2009, grossing $2.79 billion and netting three Oscars for his efforts. While the blockbuster was criticized for its white-savior-in-space narrative, it was also celebrated for its ground-breaking use of 3D, immersive CGI, and motion-capture effects. Never one to rest on his laurels, Cameron has spent the past decade working on not one, but four sequels to his space epic and plans to start things off by taking audiences to the oceans of Pandora in Avatar 2 next year.
With films production currently shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, there's been some question as to whether Avatar 2 will be able to make its release date in December 2021, given the sheer extensiveness of the project. However, for the time being, the film is sticking with that date and continuing "virtual" production on its many, many VFX elements remotely. Meanwhile, the Avatar franchise's social media promoters continue to build anticipation by releasing behind the scenes images from the set.
Two additional photos from the Avatar 2 set has since made their way online, courtesy of the franchise's Twitter account. You can check those out below, along with some details about how Cameron is shooting scenes underwater for the sequel.
By filming them this way, Cameron's intention is to bring a heightened sense of realism to Avatar 2's underwater scenes, as far as their physics are concerned. The director is famously a deep sea diver and has channeled his obsession with the ocean into his art by making the undersea sci-fi thriller The Abyss, in addition to the documentaries Aliens of the Deep and Ghosts of the Abyss. Given Cameron's meticulous approach, it'll be interesting to see what the oceans of Pandora actually look like in Avatar 2. If nothing else, it's safe to assume they'll be worlds apart from James Wan's fantastical depiction of life under the sea in his DCEU movie Aquaman. Cameron actually spoke out about that last year, admitting he would've struggled to direct Aquaman because of its "total dreamlike disconnection" from the reality of what underwater movement is like.
Obviously, the other question is whether audiences will care about Avatar 2's underwater realism, or if they'll prefer the expressive fantasy of Aquaman. The original movie's blend of (outdated) environmental parable and cutting-edge visual effects feels like it belongs to a bygone era, and these new films will be hard-pressed to stand out in a landscape that's moved on from the 3D boom kicked off by the first Avatar. That being said, it's never smart to bet against Cameron, and the director has undoubtedly taken into consideration how the art of blockbuster storytelling has evolved in the era of multi-film narratives while plotting out his Avatar sequels. Fingers crossed, then, Avatar 2 will make its current date and we'll finally get to judge the end result in about a year and a half.
Source: Avatar/Twitter
