James Cameron directs the cast on set of the Avatar sequel using a special 3.4million litre tank built for the sequels. Photo / Getty Images
James Cameron directs the cast on set of the Avatar sequel using a special 3.4million litre tank built for the sequels. Photo / Getty Images
After 13 suspenseful years, the teaser for the highly anticipated, hugely-delayed Avatar sequel has finally been released online.
Titled Avatar: The Way of Water, the film will release on December 16. The next three sequels have already finished filming and will release bi-annually until 2028.
As fitting for a teaser, characters and plotlines are sidelined for stunning visuals, but there are a few hints towards the larger story.
The Sully family is again the focus, with now-parents Jake and Neytiri attempting to keep their family safe as their tribe is faced with a new threat.
Producer Jon Landau said "At the centre of each of the four sequels will be the Sully family. Each story will be a stand-alone and each will come to its own conclusion. There will be a fulfilling resolution to each film, but when looked at as a whole the journey across all four will create a larger epic saga."
It's been 13 agonising years since the release of the original and, despite once being the highest-grossing film ever made, we haven't heard much since from the world of Pandora.
Despite production on the sequels beginning almost immediately, they have been subject to many delays due to director James Cameron's meticulous use of special effects and 3D.
Thankfully, all of Cameron's hard work can be seen in this stunning new teaser. Cameron has said this first sequel will be directly inspired by his time as an oceanographer and true to his word it looks like much of the movie will be spent underwater. This teaser spotlights the stunningly blue seas of Pandora as well as its diverse wildlife like flying fish birds and giant whales. The characters continue to ride Ikran dragons and the way they enter and exit the water is a stunning showcase of CGI.
The original was already a technical marvel when it was released but it seems the past 13 years have only honed Cameron's eye for mind-meltingly beautiful effects. Finally seeing the work that has gone into the lush environments and emotive character designs helps make those delays a little more understandable. Computer effects involving water are unbelievably time-consuming.
At CinemaCon last week, Cameron spoke on his technical vision for the film, explaining that his team is "pushing limits even farther with high frame rate, higher resolution 3D and greater reality in our visual effects. I wanted our return to Pandora to be something really special. Every shot is designed for the biggest screen, highest resolution and most immersive 3D available. I think we pulled it off."
James Cameron directs the cast on set of the Avatar sequel using a special 3.4million litre tank built for the sequels. Photo / Getty Images
Avatar's release in 2009 played a huge part in popularising 3D and ushering in a wave of imitators. Thankfully the 3D trend died as quickly as it lived, but it appears audiences are still hungry for a three-dimension cinema experience. As reported by Deadline, 10 per cent of Doctor Strange 2's ticket sales were bought by audiences seeing it in 3D. Only time will tell whether Cameron can get audiences excited about the format again.
Disney will also be re-releasing the original Avatar on September 23 worldwide with remastered audio and sound.
The sequel stars Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Michelle Yeoh, Edie Falco, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Oona Chaplin, Jemaine Clement and more.
