STACK #219 January 2023

CINEMA FEATURE

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and we figured out a way to bring Sigourney back as well, even though her character from the first film dies, obviously,” says Cameron. “And it’s a small group and we kind of love each other and enjoy the process. And Kate got to join that, and feel that vibe as well. And that was a big incentive for me to come back and do this all again.” Worthington needed little encouragement. “Jim gave me a script that was Avatar 1.5 … full of what they’ve kind of gone through over that gap. And I think Jim realised that story was about them being warriors, and taking on the battles of the clans and things like that. “He wanted to explore what this family dynamic is, the natural extension of this love story. And it gave us a good jumping off point to understand how to fill in that gap that’s missing. To be honest, most people would’ve stuck on that one, but not this guy. It was pretty amazing,” he says. As a mother of three sons, Saldaña feels a strong connection to her Avatar alter ego. “In my personal life, when I became a

James Cameron expands the dazzling world of Pandora with new characters, environments, and creatures in the first of four Avatar sequels, TheWay ofWater . Words Gill Pringle A vatar: The Way of Water arrives in cinemas a full 13 years after James Cameron first introduced

parent, fear entered my realm – the fear of losing something that you love so much, you know? And you just spend a great deal of your time creating these hypothetical scenarios that are just unimaginable. When I read the second script, that was her; that was Neytiri. But I didn’t see it then. I see it now, and my job was to be it,” she says. Winslet was just happy to be invited to the party. “I was thrilled to be asked,” she says. “And when

moviegoers to a world unlike any they’d ever seen with his breathtaking epic Avatar . The director blames the long wait on his desire to have all the screenplays for all the follow ups completed before moving onto production. “We had to write four movies before I could start on the first sequel. I wanted to map out all the stories and

I got there, welcomed into this world that was created by these guys and Zoe and Sam; what they did the first time around was to create that heartbeat. It’s one thing for Jim to write it, it’s

SamWorthington and Zoe Saldaña reprise their iconic roles of Jake Sully and Neytiri, now loving parents who must keep their family together as their paradise home on Pandora once more comes under threat from humans. When unforeseen events displace them from their idyllic forest home, the Sullys escape to the island territory held by the Metkayina – who live in harmony with the surrounding ocean – and must learn to navigate this dangerous water world. Alongside returning characters played by Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang, the sequel pairs Cameron’s Titanic muse Kate Winslet with Cliff Curtis as Metkayina clan chiefs, Ronal and Tonowari. “We have this amazing cast that returned,

then get the economy of scale of capturing the actors across multiple films and then filming the live action,” he explains. “The thinking was we could consolidate the different stages of production together – performance capture, live action, and then post-production.”

quite another to find it, and to give it a life and a pulse and real blood in those veins. “It’s not a performance. It is a universe. It is a love, it is something that is palpable, and you feel it when you step into that space, absolutely loaded with truths and dynamics and pulses that these guys built. They built that, and they shared it, and it’s honestly very special to have been part of it,” Winslet says.

Did you know? Principal photography for Avatar 3 was completed simultaneously with The Way of Water, so there will be less of a wait for the second sequel, which is currently scheduled for cinema release in December 2024. An additional two sequels have been green lit that will bring the Avatar universe to five movies in total.

WATCH BEFORE YOU GO

Avatar: The Way of Water is in cinemas now

JANUARY 2023

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