'Avatar 2' director James Cameron wants "no whining" about the length of his massive, $1B film

Most people expected the sequel of the 2019 smash hit to be long. Even still, no one really knows exactly how long. However, according to James Cameron's recent, defensive comments, it seems like it will be rather long indeed.

Photo: 20th Century Fox

The first installment of 'Avatar' came in at around 2 hours and 40 minutes. It may seem long, but that's swiftly becoming the norm for many recent blockbusters. We think the next Avatar film will be longer. How long? The director gave a clue...

Photo: 20th Century Fox

In an interview with Empire Magazine, director James Cameron said, "I don't want anybody whining about length when they sit and binge-watch [television] for eight hours... It's like, give me a ... break. I've watched my kids sit and do five one-hour episodes in a row."

So do we take the hint it is around 3 hours then?

Photo: 20th Century Fox

Cameron continued saying toilet breaks need to be accepted. "Here's the big social paradigm shift that has to happen: it's okay to get up and go pee."

Photo: 20th Century Fox

Collider already confirmed that the new title for the much anticipated 2022 sequel of Avatar will be: 'Avatar: The Way of Water.' CinemaCon announced the confirmed title at the Walt Disney Studios panel.

Many can barely wait for the highly-anticipated film, coming to us on the 16th of December 2022. Someone who certainly couldn't wait was actress Zoe Saldana herself. She managed to get a 20-minute sneak preview, alongside director James Cameron, of the footage.

Her reaction has certainly intrigued many. Screen Rant tells us that Saldana and James Cameron 'both ended up in floods of tears.' This emotional reaction tells us there is more to this film than the technology and $ 1 billion investment.

Avatar topped the box office in a groundbreaking way in 2009. The blue-skinned aliens have impressed the public, along with the tropical other-worldly setting and the environmental messages. The film struck a chord with many. And not long after, not one, but four sequels to this blockbuster were announced.

Photo: Twitter @officialavatar

James Cameron and producer, Jon Landau, haven’t been secretive about this new film and there is much we already know about it: from the multimillion-dollar investment to new technologies, the star-studded cast, and the general plot. Here are all the things we already know and why it’s going to be a jaw-dropping addition to Cameron’s already extensive portfolio.

Since 'The Way of Water' is its title, it will be no surprise that the film will be set primarily underwater. 20th Century Fox has released photos of the concept and they look idyllic.

Photo: Twitter @officialavatar

Cameron already had the initial concept down in 2012, but he brought in a writing team in 2013 who helped outline four stories that would stretch across Pandora's diverse geography. It seems these sequels are really investigating the nature of this other world, and the results are going to be spectacular.

Photo: Twitter @officialavatar

The plot? Former human soldier Jake Sully and Na'vi warrior Neytiri have settled down and started a family. Much of the film will be focusing on their offspring who are on the verge of adulthood. This sequel almost goes hand-in-hand with the gap between the first film and this installment - released 12 years after the original with the story set 14 years after.

Photo: 20th Century Fox

"Ultimately, the sequels are a story about family, and the lengths parents will go through to keep that family together and keep them safe," producer Jon Landau explains. "I always say that Jim's movies have universal themes — and really, there's no more universal theme than family.”

Although most people have seen Avatar (2009), there isn’t actually a need to; as all the sequels will stand on their own, as Jon Landau explained. But it will make an epic storyline when it reaches the climax.

Photo: 20th Century Fox

This is what he said of the plot, according to Total Film: ‘The Sullys’ idyllic life is disrupted when the RDA mining operation returns to Pandora, forcing Jake to take the family to "what is perceived as a safe harbor" at the reef. "And when you get to the reef, there’s a clan we call the Metkayina," continues Landau. "The Sullys are no longer in the environment that they know, the rainforest. They become the fish out of water. They become the fish out of water from a cultural standpoint and from an environmental standpoint.”

Photo: 20th Century Fox

So there have been months of training these actors to hold their breath for lengths underwater that surpass the training that aquatic athletes need to go through. Much of the filming took place in a 900,000-gallon tank which was built specifically for the sequels. It could mimic the ocean's swirling currents and crashing waves, but still had issues of its own when it came to performance capture filming.

Photo: Twitter @officialavatar

Blending underwater filming and performance capture has never been done before and it took the team a year and a half to develop a new motion capture system. Cameron said: "It's never been done before and it's very tricky… The problem with water is not the underwater part, but the interface between the air and the water, which forms a moving mirror… we’ve thrown a lot of horsepower, innovation, imagination, and new technology at the problem, and it's taken us about a year and a half now to work out how we're going to do it.”

Photo: Twitter @officialavatar

This could be the main reason for the delays, although Cameron hesitates in calling the extension to the release dates ‘delays’. He said “I wouldn't call them delays. It was highly optimistic that we could start quickly until scripts are written. If there's no scripts, there's nothing, right? The scripts took four years.”

In fact, it took a literal decade in the making, with so much time, effort and detail. So much so as to even hire experts in underwater dance and gymnastics to minimize the bubbles. Not to mention introducing a bespoke Na’vi sign language.

Photo: Twitter @officialavatar

"It sounds kind of nuts, the process," Cameron, 67, laughed. "I mean, if Avatar hadn't made so much damn money, we'd never do this — because it's kind of crazy,” according to Entertainment Weekly. Crazy money has been spent, just take a look at this sneak peek photo to get an idea of the scale of what was built for the set.

Photo: Twitter @officialavatar

Crazy, indeed, James Cameron. According to IMDB, the Avatar sequels will cost a collective $ 1 billion at least. That’s throwing some serious cash in the hope it has the same success as the first film. In 2019 'Avengers: Endgame' surpassed 'Avatar' as the biggest movie of all time — but 'Avatar' returned to the top of the list when China did a rerelease in early 2021, setting a new record with an all-time box office of $2.847 billion worldwide (besting Endgame by almost $50 million). There is hope for the sequels.

So with three more to go, many fans are simply waiting to see some kind of teaser that they can hold on to because it’s been a long time since the first film. The third movie (which has already finished filming more or less) is due in 2024 and the fourth and fifth are set for 2026 and 2028 respectively.

Photo: Twitter @officialavatar

But we have until the 16th December 2022 to wait. Cast member Stephen Lang certainly got our interest when he assured fans this will absolutely be worth the wait. He told EW in August 2021, "I think they'll be enchanted and fascinated. Look, there are people who are going to just adore this world."

Photo: Twitter @officialavatar