Will Avatar 2 Be Successful Thirteen Years After the Original? “I Guess We’ll Find Out,” says the director.
Avatar is the highest-grossing picture in history, but the 2009 film did not immediately receive a sequel. The sequel, The Way of Water, will not be released until this year, 13 years after the first. So, does Cameron believe that the vast difference will pose a problem? Cameron told The New York Times that he initially feared fans might not care as much after so many years, but the first teaser trailer had roughly 150 million views on its first day. Despite the trailer's quick success, Cameron is uncertain that The Way of Water will find a large audience again.
“With Avatar 2 coming out 12 years later, I was concerned that I had stretched the cord too long in our fast-paced, modern society. Within twenty-four hours of releasing the teaser trailer, it had 148 million views “he stated. “The principle of seldom-seen-but-wondered-at states, “Wow, we haven't seen it in a long time, but I remember how great that was back then.” Does this work to our advantage? I'm not sure. I suppose we shall find out.”
Cameron was replying to a query regarding whether or not audiences would relate to The Way of Water's characters and direction, given that the previous film was released more than a decade ago. He is unsure, and he said that the Avatar sequel may conceivably fail if it is released two years after the original film. Ultimately, nothing is definite in Hollywood.
“I believe I could have created a sequel two years later, but it would have failed because people didn't connect with the characters or the film's direction,” he said.
Cameron has expertise in producing sequels released years after the initial film. Aliens, the sequel to Ridley Scott's Alien, was released in 1986, seven years after Alien. The gap between Cameron's Terminator and Terminator 2 was also seven years. Both sequels performed better than their predecessors at the box office.
Avatar is the highest-earning film ever produced, grossing $2.84 billion worldwide. Titanic ($2.2 billion; third all-time, not adjusted for inflation) is Cameron's second high-ranking film, making him one of the most commercially successful directors in film history.
The upgraded and remastered version of Avatar is due to return to theatres on Friday, September 23; consequently, the film's box office earnings are expected to increase before the release of The Way of Water in December.
Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, and Giovanni Ribisi return in The Way of Water. Sigourney Weaver will also return, although in a different role, as her character in the original Avatar was killed off. Avatar 3 was shot simultaneously with The Way of Water, and there are scripts for Avatar 4 and 5, but their production will rely on the success of The Way of Water.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, the next video game by Ubisoft, has been delayed.
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