Avatar is still the highest-grossing film of all time (by a back-and-forth with Avengers: Endgame) 13 years after its first release. Directed by James Cameron, the film brought audiences into the brand new, original world of Pandora. The beautiful moon has a wide variety of creatures, vegetation and different tribes. The Na’vi, or the people of Pandora, are divided into at least 15 clans, each with their own culture and environment. While we glimpse the expansive world beyond the main characters in Avatarwe left Pandora largely unexplored by the time the credits rolled.
Producer Jon Landau assured the public that this will not be the case with the upcoming sequels, as he tells Variety that each film will focus on different cultures and biomes on the giant moon. “With each sequel, we’re going to introduce the audience to new cultures and new biomes,” he explains. “We’re not leaving behind the cultures we’ve encountered.” It seems like the cast of the Avatar movies will continue to grow as Cameron expands the world to include the different cultures that inhabit it, while keeping the focus on our main characters.
Landau’s comments come from a showcase at the Busan International Film Festival, where the crew is from Avatar: The way of the water discussed the groundbreaking technology in the upcoming sequel. If the movie is anything like the movie before it, the visuals will be spectacular and unlike anything the audience has seen before. The way of the water is slated for release later this year, when the US theatrical rollout begins on December 16.
Avatar: The way of the water Pushed for inclusivity
Avatar certainly had a deeper message about climate change, our current society and how people treat outsiders. The way of the water and subsequent sequels will do the same while pushing for inclusivity inside and outside the film. Jon Landau tells Variety, “As filmmakers, we have a responsibility to use our art form to challenge people to see things differently,” he says. “And science fiction gives us the opportunity to be a metaphor for the world we live in without preaching about it. Because when you preach, you only reach those who have already converted.”
The report lists the protagonists of the next film, refugees seeking a safe haven with people who are nothing like them and who live very different from them. As Landau mentions, The way of the water will try to spread a message without completely forcing its opinion on the public. Fans will only have to wait a few months for the sequel, 13 years in the making, to hit theaters in December.