It’s almost a meme at this point about how long it has taken for a sequel to 2009’s Avatar to get made, but the film is definitely coming out this year and apparently it will make us cry. Speaking in a new interview series star Zoe Saldana opened up about working on the project and why it has taken so long while also confirming that she’s seen some footage and it brought her to tears. Saldana confirmed that among the biggest reasons the sequel has been in the works for so long is that Cameron wasn’t sure how to photograph underwater sequences while still using motion capture technology on his actors, as she puts it though, “he did it.”
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“He was finally able to crack that challenge,” Saldana told Kevin McCarthy. “That whole thing that you can’t imitate water virtually through performance capture. That was just a challenge that he had taken upon himself, and it took him years, and he did it. It’s powerful, it’s compelling. I can get choked up just talking about it. I was able to see just 20 minutes of the second installment right before the year ended last year and I was speechless…I was moved to tears. One thing nobody really knows about Jim is that Jim is also a big crier. He really has a heart of gold, and he is a firm man and he’s very focused, but he does have a very delicate heart which is why he protects it so much. I think he’s able to have an outlet through the stories that he creates and this story is going to be compelling.”
She added, “Avatar 2 is definitely a leap from the Avatar 1. I think you really have to brace yourself for it, but it’s going to be an adventure that you will not forget.”
An official title for Avatar 2 has not been confirmed by the studio but Saldana is joined in the film by several returning stars including Sam Worthington, Stepehn Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, CCH Pounder, Matt Gerald, and Sigourney Weaver. The cast for the sequels will include even more newcomers than returning members though with the likes of Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Michelle Yeoh, Jemaine Clement, Oona Chaplin, David Thewlis, Vin Diesel, and CJ Jones all set to appear as well.
Avatar 2 is set to arrive on December 16, 2022, with Avatar 3 set to debut two years later on December 20, 2024.
