James Cameron's next film is already breaking records, and it hasn't even come out yet. The first trailer for Cameron's highly anticipated Avatar: The Way Of The Water premiered online on May 9th after playing exclusively in theaters before Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness.
Avatar: The Way Of The Water follows returning protagonist Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), who along with Na’vi Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), will go to great lengths to keep their family safe. Other returning cast members include actress Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine and Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch, and other big-name newcomers include the Fast Saga's Vin Diesel and Kate Winslet.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that within the first 24-hours, the short teaser for Avatar: The Way Of The Water racked up over 148-million views online, which is more than the trailers for all the recent Star Wars films, including Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which also played exclusively in theaters before premiering online. This number doesn't even include all the audiences across the globe who are seeing the Avatar 2 trailer on the big screen before Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which opened to an enormous $187 million domestically and nearly $450 million overseas.
The first Avatar film was released in 2009 and remains the top-grossing film of all time, with $2.84 billion in worldwide box-office earnings. The film even beat records previously held by Cameron's 1997 historical epic, Titanic. The first Avatar remained the highest-grossing film worldwide for nearly a decade until it was overtaken by Avengers: Endgame in 2019, before a 2021 Chinese re-release saw Avatar climb back to number one. The original Avatar will be re-released in theatres on September 23rd with restored pictures and sound before the sequel's December release.
Despite being released nearly 13-years after the original film, Avatar: The Way Of The Water is clearly generating a lot of hype. Fans have been sharing clips on social media, awestruck by the impressive visual effects of the new film. While the original Avatar is sometimes considered overrated by some film lovers, it's undeniably an impressive technical achievement. As a filmmaker, Cameron is known for pushing the boundaries of new cinematic technology in films such as Titanic and The Terminator franchise. However, with four massive Avatar sequels in the works, he may be preoccupied with a single franchise for the next few decades.
Avatar: The Way of Water will premiere in theatres on December 16th, 2022.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter