Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Avatar: The Way of Water

  • ‘Avatar 2’ Heading for Massive $175M Opening Weekend

    ‘Avatar 2’ Heading for Massive $175M Opening Weekend

    It looks like people are ready to explore Pandora once again, as Avatar: The Way of Water is on its way for a massive $175M opening. Even at its lower end it’ll be at $150M but it’ll definitely be taking its share at the box office normally reserved for superhero tentpoles nowadays. Of course, nostalgia is a big part of selling films nowadays as proven by Top Gun Maverick this year.

    What makes this box office stand out is that it’ll more than double the original’s box office opening of $77M domestically from 2009. That film managed to remain in cinemas as a powerhouse ending on an impressive $760M in the United States even with that strong but not record-shattering opening box office. The question remains if the sequel will have the same legs. As of now, Avatar: The Way of Water already has sold $38M in advance ticket sales which is ahead of Jurassic World Dominion and Top Gun Maverick, but behind Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

    It’s easy to assume that James Cameron has that staying power with any of his film, but at over 3 hours, that’s a big ask of audiences. It’s visuals might make up for that time and there’s no real competition as it wraps up the year but it’s hard to predict nowadays. It could end up having a superhero opening with Top Gun’s legs or simply play similarly to last year’s powerhouse release Spider-Man: No Way Home.

    It’s international opening is also enjoying the addition of China, a market that hasn’t been very welcome throughout the year and has a chance of surpassing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘ $449M international opening. As of now, it’s international cume seems to be between $250M to $350M but as we near the weekend we’ll get a better idea of how it’ll perform. China already has $22M pre-sales and could end up at $100M by Sunday even with 33% of cinemas still closed due to COVID.

    Unlike most films of this year though, the weight on this project making around $2 billion is going to weigh on its box office results. With a production budget north of $350M, Cameron and Disney are all-in to make sure this film will be a success. It’s kicked off with 85% on RottenTomatoes with 117 reviews. If audience’s agree, the question is if the film will get the leg-boosting A+ CinemaScore or end up on the lower side of the A Score altogether. For now, we’ll have to see what the rest of the week brings.

    Source: Variety, Rotten Tomatoes

  • REVIEW: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is Cameron’s Magnum Opus (For Now)

    REVIEW: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is Cameron’s Magnum Opus (For Now)

    Never bet against James Cameron. The director’s latest, Avatar: The Way of Water, was a project over ten years in the making, something that gave many people an understandable hesitation leading up to its premiere. Cameron had spent that period of time essentially boasting about the film as a singularity, or at least, something more than just a sequel. It seemed he planned on the follow-up to 2009’s Avatar being so impressive, it demanded more time to gestate than any regular movie. An unspoken promise that, upon release, The Way of Water would be unlike anything ever before seen on a theater screen. That’s a very, very big expectation to meet, and plenty of folks were convinced it would simply be impossible for Cameron pull off. As it turns out, those folks were wrong.

    From a technical standpoint, The Way of Water is an astounding achievement. Without exaggeration, the film feels like it could be the next step in blockbuster evolution. The world of Pandora is so exquisitely realized, that there are several moments that are likely to make audience members try reaching out to touch it. It cannot be accurately stated just how breathtaking the visuals are able to materialize in full Dolby 3D. Seeing the glisten of minuscule water droplets on the skin of a computer-generated alien should not feel so real. In some ways, it’s sort of unnatural just how practical it appears when a neon-colored fish glides through refracting sunbeams over rippling subaqueous sand dunes. Pure cinematic wizardry, which can only be described as real-life magic. It’s very clear how much time and money were sunk into this project, which is – if one is hoping to get what they paid for – a really good thing for Cameron and his team.

    What will be truly interesting, however, is the long-term public reaction to the sequel’s plot. The Way of Water is clearly a movie meant to capitalize on the visual medium of the theatrical experience, with special effects that push the boundary of cinema far further than its actual storytelling. Of course, this is not to say the storyline is in any way bad. It’s actually pretty darn good. There are several crowd-pleasing moments, heartbreaking developments, and sequences that remind the viewer why they love going to the movies. It’s just, at the end of the day, nothing that happens is all that surprising. Historically, Cameron is remarkably skilled at taking fairly simplistic, predictable plots and stretching them to their full potential. This doesn’t change in the second Avatar.

    The Way of Water doubles down on every trope Cameron has relied upon in the past, and even brings back a few devices the director used in the previous outing. It’s a whirlwind of cornball MacGuffins storming through a sea of undeniably cool set pieces. In fact, it might just be the most James Cameron movie to ever exist, both optically and narratively, and persists in being so at a ridiculously high level. A movie does not always need to be unique, plot-wise, to be memorable. It’s possible to stand by and revolve around the Joseph Campbell theory of a hero’s journey and do it so well that the audience leaves the theater feeling fulfilled and refreshed. In this regard, The Way of Water is Cameron‘s magnum opus. It’s everything he has produced thus far in his career, only amped to the next degree of entertainment.

    A minor gripe may be the film’s slight lack of resolve in its closing moments. While the major plot points are sufficiently wrapped up and reliably executed, there are a handful of plotlines emphasized earlier in the three-hour runtime that slowly fade away by the time of its conclusion. Assumedly, these are ideas that will be picked back up in the multiple planned sequels, but it is a little frustrating to see Cameron lean ever-so-lightly into the messiness of modern franchise-ifacation when the rest of the film is so tight. Shockingly tight, it must be said, for a movie so notably long. The pacing is excellent, and allows for quite a few ideas to be packed into one picture, but it would have been nice if all of those ideas were more efficiently packaged in the end.

    Avatar: The Way of Water is flawed, yes, but at length, it’s a force to be reckoned with. The film meets nearly every expectation set before it. A wild ride full of heart and astonishment, which sets a high bar for the next films to follow. Its inconsistencies are so few and far between that they’re often lost to the overall grandiosity of the cinematic experience. Truthfully, it’s hard to comprehend the idea of watching it on anything other than the biggest, loudest screen a person can find. $250 million went into the production of this sequel and every penny can be seen in the details. If there was a lack of hype for the Avatar franchise before The Way of Water, there absolutely will not be once it’s available to the public. Again, and this is important to remember, never bet against Cameron.

  • Stephen Lang on His Villainous Return in ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

    Stephen Lang on His Villainous Return in ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

    In 2009’s Avatar, Stephen Lang played Colonel Miles Quaritch whose disdain for the inhabitants of Pandora made him both memorable and hateful. At the film’s end, Quaritch met his fate at the hands of Neytiri making the actor’s return for the sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, an interesting proposition. Director James Cameron stated that the character will be the main antagonist for the next three Avatar films and it was revealed earlier this year that Quaritch’s return came with a twist: his consciousness has been uploaded into a Na’vi avatar.

    During the global press event for Avatar: The Way of Water, Lang sounded thrilled for the opportunity to return to the role that gained him some significant cachet in Hollywood.

    Oh it was very exciting to come back and it was, I was just so honored to be able to deepen and expand on the vision that Jim had for this character. I think in the first film he’s very, very colorful, he’s got personality, he’s got some great qualities. But essentially he moves through like a mindless shark, in a way.

    Stephen Lang

    Continuing on, Lang talked a bit about the “irony” of returning as what is known in the film as a Recombinant and how it lead to a new understanding of the character

    …There’s the absolute magnificent irony that Jim has written of coming back as the very thing he has been trying to destroy. And having to make the adjustment to that, to adapt to that. And I think it’s just, it’s been a… it was a total pleasure for me to continue to massage this character, and find the depth, and maybe some of the humanity that’s in him.

    Stephen Lang

    As for that humanity, Quaritch seems like a character who might be fairly hard to redeem. As Lang quipped, “He’s such a warm character, and beloved by so many…” and to that end, there are probably a lot more fans waiting to see him suffer more than anything.

    Avatar: The Way of Water will continue the villainous tale of Quaritch when it hits theaters December 16th.

  • SNL is the Reason ‘Avatar’ Changed its Logo and Font

    SNL is the Reason ‘Avatar’ Changed its Logo and Font

    Have you ever wondered why James Cameron‘s Avatar suddenly changed its logo and font? At the time, there was the righteous assumption that perhaps it was mainly done with Disney’s usual knack of marketing its projects but it seems that it was more a reaction to a joke by Saturday Night Live. Yes, you read that correctly, the SNL sketch starring Ryan Gosling jokingly referring to the font as Papyrus is one of the reasons.

    Producer Jon Landau got a chance to talk to Entertainment Weekly, where he reflected on the joke and even went on to highlight that the correct font wasn’t actually Papyrus but Toruk. It seems the fact that it had a very plain logo, the SNL sketch in combination with people questioning its actual cultural relevance inspired the need to establish a logo that screamed Avatar.

    When we realized that the movie was going to expand into a franchise and we’d have other IPs, we went out and created our own font that we’re now using, and we call it Toruk, and it’s available for people to use. But the Papyrus font is a fun thing, and I also love the fact that… it was certainly several years after the movie came out, and I guess it illustrated to people who were questioning Avatar’s cultural relevance that it was still part of the culture.

    Jon Landau

    Even with The Way of Water set to make a massive opening box office, and a secured but rare China release, the discussions are still making the rounds on how relevant this franchise truly is. The first film has the heavy burden of having to make $2B to be considered a success but there’s also the dead market at the moment that could drag it down. For now, we have to see what’ll happen once it releases next week.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • Zoë Saldaña Discusses the Changes to Neytiri in ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

    Zoë Saldaña Discusses the Changes to Neytiri in ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

    While it’s been 13 years in the real world from the release of Avatar to its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, there’s also been a significant passage of time experienced by the characters who inhabit the fictional world of Pandora. In Avatar: The Way of Water, a decade has passed since the events of the first film and that means a great deal has changed for main characters Sully and Neytiri. So much changed, in fact, that director James Cameron wrote what star Sam Worthington called “Avatar 1.5” in order to prepare the cast by sharing with them the experiences their characters had during that decade.

    For star Zoë Saldaña, who has had 3 children in the time between films, the changes in her personal life are mirrored in her character, Neytiri, a fierce and fearless Na’vi warrior who now has children of her own. During the global press junket for Avatar: The Way of Water, Saldaña talked about the changes to her character and how they reflect her personal growth since 2009.

    Neytiri and I, in a way, we’ve lived parallel lives. There is, there’s a level of fearlessness and rebellion that I have, as I guess as a person, that Neytiri had as herself. And I, we were able to sort of find kindred in that. You know, but the leap of falling in love with something outside of you, that challenges you to see something that you’ve never seen before, that has always been her dilemma. To surrender to that, and then to bring forward, you know, fruits of that love, and… but that presents the challenge for her. Because forcing her to grow, it’s forcing her to love something that she’s been taught to hate. And it’s, you know, it’s hard, it’s really, really hard.

    Zoë Saldaña

    Saldaña continued on about the role that fear plays in the life of a parent and how that helped her find a connection with where Neytiri was on her journey in Avatar: The Way of Water.

    Also fear. In my personal life, when I became a parent, fear entered my realm. The fear of losing something that you love so much, you know? And you just spend a great deal of your time creating these hypothetical scenarios that just unimaginable. When I read, you know, the second script, that was her, that was Neytiri. But I didn’t see it then. I see it now.

    Zoë Saldaña

    Traditionally, actors give their best performances when they can find real-life inspiration for the roles they inhabit. In this case, it sounds like Saldaña and Neytiri have so much in common that they’re almost kindred spirits. That’s good news for fans of the franchise who can look forward to an intense portrayal by Saldaña as she looks to protect her children from those “unimaginable” scenarios she described.

    Avatar: The Way of Water debuts in theaters on December 16th.

  • ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Producer Talks the Film’s Core Themes

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Producer Talks the Film’s Core Themes

    Oscar-winning producer Jon Landau has long been a partner of director James Cameron in bringing both cutting-edge technology and well-crafted stories to the big screen. The two partnered up for Avatar and Titanic, which sit at #1 and #3, respectively, on the all-time box office list and both films have stayed with audiences because they had relevant stories to tell. 13 years after Avatar was released, its direct sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, is about to hit theaters across the globe and while it’s already being praised for its technological advancements, Landau believes there’s a whole lot more going on in the film than just fancy VFX.

    As part of the global press junket for Avatar: The Way of Water, Landau expressed what he was looking forward to in the film and why the time was right for the long-awaited sequel:

    Well the excitement are the themes that Jim writes into his stories. You know, themes are what you leave the theatre with, and this movie has heart, has emotion, and it also has, you know, a message again about our world, not just the environment, about people, about accepting people for their differences. In the movie Jim wrote in the line, (Speaks Na’vi), ‘I see you.’ And we want people to know that they’re seen, and that to see others that same way.

    Jon Landau

    The film will see the Na’vi encounter a new tribe who look to be very similar to themselves but who also have evolved quite differently. Footage has shown the Na’vi coming to understand that the new tribe, which inhabits coastal regions of Pandora, aren’t quite as familiar as they might think. In this way, Landau’s comments become a little clearer. While fans have come to know the Sully family, they’re not the only ones on the planet whose way of life is jeopardized. Perhaps Avatar: The Way of Water will partly focus on these tribes putting aside their differences and uniting to save their world, a theme which is always relevant.

    Avatar: The Way of Water hits theaters across the globe on December 16th.

  • James Cameron Wrote ‘Avatar 1.5’ to Prep the Cast for ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

    James Cameron Wrote ‘Avatar 1.5’ to Prep the Cast for ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

    It’s been 13 years since fans fell in love with Pandora and its inhabitants in Avatar. James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, is now just a week away from releasing in theaters and just as fans have lived a life full of experiences since the first film released, so have the characters they met in the first film. At the heart of the film was a love story between Zoë Saldaña’s Na’vi character, Neytiri, and Sam Worthington’s Jake Sully, a Na’vi-human hybrid.

    The new film finds the pair over a decade later and with a family of their own which means much of who they are now was shaped by events that happened off-screen. During the global press event for Avatar: The Way of Water, Worthington talked about stepping back into the role and the lengths that Cameron went to in order to make the transition seem as authentic as possible, which included a fully-realized script for “Avatar 1.5” “[Cameron] gave me a script that was Avatar one point five that you know, unto itself is amazing and detailed and full of what they’ve kind of gone through over that gap,” explained Worthington.

    Worthington explained that Cameron seemed to understand that while Avatar: The Way of Water will focus on Sully and Neytiri fighting for their way of life, knowing exactly what their way of life had been for the past 10 years and the dynamic within the family they protect was an essential part of his prep for the role.

    And I think it was part of, you know, Jim realized that story was about them being warriors, and taking on the battles of the clans and things like that. But it almost didn’t feel… as you said, you wanted to explore what this family dynamic is, the natural extension of this love story. But it gave us a good jumping-off point to understand how to fill in that gap that’s missing, you know? To be honest, most people would, would’ve stuck on that one, but not this guy. It was pretty amazing, yeah.

    Sam Worthington

    Fans won’t have the added benefit of going through the experiences contained within Avatar 1.5, but from all early accounts of the film, it’s much more emotional which makes it sound like Cameron’s investment in writing it paid off.

    Avatar: The Way of Water opens in theaters on December 16th.

  • ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Is Set to Surprise Fans of the First Film

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Is Set to Surprise Fans of the First Film

    It took 13 years for James Cameron to bring the sequel to 2009’s Avatar to the screen and early reactions to the film seem to point to it being both a technological marvel and a film worthy of the blockbuster status it’s preemptively been assigned. However, if you think Cameron was going to wait 13 years to simply dish out more of the same from the first film, you’re in for some surprises.

    During the global press event for Avatar: The Way of Water, Cameron explained that while the sequel will touch on the components that made the first film the #1 highest-grossing film of all-time, audiences are also in for some surprises.

    I think it’s important for a sequel to honor what the audience loved about the experience the first time. But also to, you know, get them off-balance, you know, do things that they don’t expect. There are a lot of surprises in terms of where the story goes in this film, that we’re not putting into the trailers and the TV spots and all that. You kind of have to experience it.

    James Cameron

    Cameron continued on to explain that while there are some surprises as the plot unfolds, one of the key differences between the sequel and its predecessor comes from the emotional family dynamic at the heart of the film.

    But it also goes a lot deeper, in terms of the heart and the emotions, I mean, wouldn’t you guys say? I mean, we were (Sure), it was a much simpler story, and the characters were simpler the first time. And I was inspired by the fact that both Zoe and Sam were- Sam are parents, and I’m a parent of five, and so we wanted to get into the family dynamics, and the responsibilities of having kids. And also what that’s all like from the kid’s perspective right?

    James Cameron

    At 190 minutes, Avatar: The Way of Water has plenty of time to sneak in some surprises and to allow for an emotional connection to be established with the audience. Cameron is no stranger to making successful sequels. Given his passion for the project and the worlds and characters he’s built within it, it seems safe to say the film will be a big hit over this holiday season.

    Avatar: The Way of Water hits theaters on December 16th.

  • First ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Reactions Indicate It’s Another James Cameron Classic

    First ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Reactions Indicate It’s Another James Cameron Classic

    After a thirteen-year wait for the sequel, it sounds like audiences who fell in love with 2009’s Avatar are about to have a very happy holiday season at the movie theater. Avatar: The Way of Water premiered yesterday and those who were in attendance in London or at press screenings around the globe were allowed to take to social media to share their thoughts. In a nutshell, the film is another hit for director James Cameron.

    Our own Hunter Radesi called the film an “improvement over its predecessor” and praised the film’s incredibly “immersive” use of VFX:

    Reel Blend’s Kevin McCarthy joined Hunter in praising the use of technology to make the “most jaw-dropping immersion” he had ever seen in theaters.

    Fandango’s Erik Davis called the film “phenomenal” and “visually breathtaking.”

    Joseph Deckelmeier, who attended the World Premiere in London called it a “cinematic achievement.”

    THR’s Beatrice Verhoeven didn’t go in looking forward to it, but says the film changed her mind!

    While Scott Mantz jumped on board the VFX train, he believed the story behind the sequel wasn’t quite as good as the first and that it felt drawn out over the film’s extensive run time of 190 minutes.

    Fellow filmmaker Guillermo del Toro praised Cameron’s work on the film, saying the sequel showed the work of “a master at the peak of his powers…”

    While there was never really a doubt that the film would be a major box office draw over the holiday season, the initial word of mouth about the VFX and the overall quality of the story are sure to help Avatar: The Way of Water be one of 2022’s biggest box office draws when it hits theaters beginning December 16th!