Tag: Avatar: The Way of Water

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Avatar: The Way of Water digital release arrives March 28th

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water is a bonafide box office success. After becoming the third-highest-grossing film of all time, the sequel to the 2009 sensation is getting a digital release this month.

On March 28th, the Avatar sequel will be available to purchase digitally. Paid downloads of Avatar: The Way of Water will be available across platforms such as Prime Video, Apple TV, Microsoft Films & TV, and more.

The Avatar sequel was helmed by James Cameron, who also directed the original film. Alongside Cameron, the film was written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. The movie stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and more.

Avatar: The Way of Water is also arriving digitally with a ton of extras. In fact, there is over the same amount of bonus content as the nearly three-hour movie. Fans of the film can watch a feature on how Cameron and his crew created the world of Pandora, its creatures, and its environments. Fans can also look forward to learning more about how the stunt team used a performance tank for the many underwater sequences.

The bonus footage also spotlights the FX of the film. Using Wētā FX, Cameron and his team created uncanny facial performances, environments, and never-before-seen creatures. There are also spotlight features dedicated to the returning cast as well as the new generation of Avatar stars, including Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, and Jack Champion.

Avatar: The Way of Water was released theatrically on December 15th, 2023. It has since reaped a global box office of $2.28 billion. Cameron’s franchise now holds two of the three top-grossing spots. Avatar sits at the number one spot with a box office of $2.9 billion. Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame is the third with $2.79 billion at the box office.

Currently, there’s no word on when a Bluray release nor Disney+ streaming option will be available.

Image credit: Disney

Source: Gizmodo

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Two of the Oscars Best Picture nominees were directed by Canadians

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the full list of nominees for this year’s Academy Awards, and Canada made quite a big appearance.

Notably, two of the ten Best Picture nominees were directed by Canadians: Avatar: The Way of Water (Kapuskasing, Ontario’s James Cameron) and Women Talking (Toronto’s Sarah Polley). As a producer on The Way of Water, this means Cameron himself is one of the people up for the award, while Polley — who isn’t a producer on Women Talking — scored a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. It’s also worth noting that Women Talking is based the eponymous 2018 novel by Steinbach, Manitoba’s Miriam Toews.

It should be noted that Avatar: The Way of Water and Women Talking were both released in theatres in December so they’re not yet available to stream at home.

The eight other Best Picture nominees are All Quiet on the Western Front (notably, a Netflix film), The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fabelmans, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick and Triangle of Sadness.

Meanwhile, Pixar’s Turning Red, which was co-written and directed by Toronto’s Domee Shi, is up for Best Animated Feature. Also nominated in that category is The Sea Beast, which was directed by Waterloo, Ontario-raised Chris Williams. Elsewhere in the field of animation, The Flying Sailor from Calgary’s Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis is nominated for Best Animated Short.

Acting-wise, American-Canadian Brendan Fraser snagged a nomination for Best Actor for The Whale. (Fraser was born in the U.S. to Canadian parents and spent some of his formative years in Toronto.)

The full list of this year’s nominees can be found here. The 95th Academy Awards will be held on March 12th, 2023.

Image credit: Disney

Via: The Canadian Press

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Avatar: The Way of Water uses crazy tech, but does it look better or worse?

James Cameron has been hyping up his Avatar saga a lot lately, but the more I watch the trailers for Avatar: The Way of Water, the less I believe this movie will break as many boundaries as the first.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an Avatar hater. I enjoyed the first movie and loved how it pushed the special effects and CGI industry. The overarching plot was trite, but the world, the action and the intense filmmaking drew me in.

As the trailers for The Way of Water have been released, I’ve realized I expected the movie to look nearly as good as real life, and while it’s still visually impressive, some characters have crossed into the uncanny valley.

Several shots are outstanding, and there’s no denying that the water physics are top-notch. Even the reflective properties of water seem to be taken into account in this film, albeit there’s maybe a little too much on characters’ skin. The environment is also stunning, with realistic rocks, foliage and shadows.

But the characters’ faces are undeniably bizarre. I don’t want to call them unnatural because the problem is that they look too natural, in some respects. The human elements shine through more clearly in The Way of Water, and while it might help the actors relay a more believable digital performance, it seems too much like a human, which adds an odd aura to the film. There’s something about how the jaw structure seems to be the same as the real actors, making them appear less cat-like than in the first film.

Beyond that, The Way of the Water‘s story focuses more on the family and children of the main characters from the first film. These younger Na’vi have less pronounced facial features, making their cat-esque noses look even more human, breaking the effect. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but this beautiful CG world feels broken by a human face peering through the CGI makeup.

In a recent interview with GQ, The Way of Water director says that his team used a variety of cameras to film the actors performing the motions to get actual real-life movement and human interactions. That footage was then handed off to effects company Wētā to paint the world on top of. It’s an interesting approach and has reportedly resulted in The Way of Water becoming one of the most expensive movies ever made.

I’m sure once it hits theatres, the film will hold up and look great, but with all the hype surrounding the next generation of Avatar films, it has a lot to live up to.

Image credit: 20th Century Fox

Source: Avatar Via: GQ

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Disney+ temporarily takes down Avatar prior to sequel release

James Cameron’s 2009 science fiction hit Avatar has been taken off of Disney+ temporarily as the movie’s sequel nears release.

The original movie will return for viewers to watch in theatres in 4K HDR on September 23rd before Avatar: The Way of Water releases on December 16th later this year.

The 2009 Avatar will reportedly have a limited two-week run in movie theatres, and will return to Disney+ before Avatar: The Way of Water releases on December 16th, sources confirmed to Variety. The original Avatar is, however, still available to rent via YouTube, Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.

It’s been 12 years since the original Avatar was released, and it still retains its spot as the highest-grossing movie of all time, with $2.847 billion USD (roughly $3.694 billion CAD) at the global box office, and only time will tell if its sequel can replicate the same level of success.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Variety

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Disney releases official Avatar 2 trailer online

The first official trailer for the long-awaited Avatar sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, has been released online.

The trailer for The Way of Water made its debut over the weekend in theatres exclusively with screenings of fellow Disney film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but now, it’s being made available on the web for everyone.

The trailer features a lot of miscellaneous shots without much dialogue, so you may not glean too much about the actual story. Here’s the official synopsis, for reference:

“Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, “Avatar: The Way of Water” begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.”

Canada’s own James Cameron has returned to direct and co-writer The Way of Water, and it’s the first of four sequels he’s currently working on. The Way of Water will hit theatres this December, with its three untitled sequels dropping in December 2024, December 2026 and December 2028, respectively.

Cameron’s original Avatar opened in theatres way back in December 2009. The film is streaming on Disney+ in Canada.

Image credit: 20th Century Studios