So after numerous delays and years of waiting for James Cameron's Avatar 2, the year has
finally come when we will be seeing the long-awaited sequel to one of the biggest films of all
time.
And not just one-of, it still holds the record for being the biggest worldwide box office
grosser in history, if you put aside inflation.
But there are multiple reasons which go alongside this in setting up a sequel that
has the potential to be big like the first one.
In this video, I'm going to be discussing the reasons why I personally believe Avatar
2 will be the biggest film of the year, despite some
underestimating the sequel of the biggest box office hit of all time.
But before I get into it, if you want to keep up to date on any of my
content surrounding the Avatar sequels and other sci-fi series such as Denis Villeneuve's
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But without further a do, lets dive into the reasons
why Avatar 2 will be the biggest film of the year.
So as the years have passed, many people online seem to be ready to write off Avatar 2 whether
it be based on it's box office potential, or the quality of the film itself.
Now from a quality perspective, I quite enjoyed the first
Avatar, but I do agree that from a storytelling perspective, it wasn't James Cameron's strongest
work.
Terminator 2, Aliens, True Lies, The Abyss and Titanic are all films that I
consider to be stronger pieces of storytelling from the filmmaker.
But that doesn't mean that I don't think the first Avatar was good,
because at the time I did quite enjoy the story, even though it was an amalgamation
of other films and there was a lot of technological aspects that really boasted the film it was.
And when it comes to box office, I think that
is a big factor that many are underestimating too.
In my opinion, while Avatar 2 probabaly won't make the $2.8 billion that the first film
made, I do think it is guarrenteed to be a box office
success and the question that people should be asking, is not whether it's going to do
well, but actually how well?
And even with that being a question, right now it still looks
like from a box office perspective, that it's very likely going to be the biggest film of
the year.
The first Avatar broke numerous records after its release and it lead to director
James Cameron passing a deal to make four new films.
And the first of these sequels has actually followed a similar set of events that the
original Avatar faced, ultimately contributing to similar feelings back in 2009.
James Cameron had originally started work on the original Avatar back in the early 90s,
planning to release it after Titanic, which of course
went on to be the highest grossing film of all time back when that was released.
He delayed Avatar due to not having the required technology
available to create his vision, and even though it took him a hell of a long time to finally
get it all together, the outcome was a visually groundbreaking feature that following Titanic
became the next record breaking film, setting the new record.
So in the space of two decades, James Cameron took two films to the number one highest grossing
of all time, and they were 12 years apart.
Avatar was of course then nominated for nine Oscars, winning three of them, and the film
was hailed for it's revolutionary digital techniques and visual effects.
He's a master of using digital technology and making
it look as real and as polished as it can be for the time that a film releases in.
So imagine in following a similar pattern of delays and
a longer release period following his last film, what he could achieve with sequels over
a decade after the last Avatar released.
And even without a trailer, which is rumoured to be
releasing this May in front of Doctor Strange 2, whether it's negative or positive, people
are talking about Avatar movie years and years later.
To this very day, the original Avatar has remained the highest-grossing movie of all
time for more than a decade.
Despite how many are underestimating the sequel at the box office or
based on how good it will be, Avatar 2 has great potential to be another box office success,
following how consistent and talked about the previous film was.
After releasing in December 2009, Avatar broke many records, including
becoming the highest-grossing film globally in 3D and IMAX and was at the top of the charts
for 7 weeks running.
These numbers were unheard of in the winter months, let alone the big box
office films that come out in the summer time, and it just kept going and going.
Some of my older relatives who don't particularly follow
film as much as I do, have asked me multiple times, when is Avatar 2 coming out.
And I think that is telling, because it shows how Avatar has spoken to all audiences.
It's a blockbuster that very much seems like it's aimed at the
younger age groups, but actually with Cameron and the stories he tells, they clearly fascinate
those in all age types.
And for people to even speak about a film like this and anticipate
the next one over a decade afterwards, and I'm talking about the older generation, imagine
a good portion of people who watched the original plus the younger audiences who may be fascinated
by it today, and I think you're in for some huge results.
Avatar of course maintained it's highest grossing title from 2010 to 2019, at
which point Avengers: Endgame became the new number one in box office earnings.
But then in 2021, 11 years after it's release, Avatar gained back its title when the movie
was re-released in China.
And not to mention that adjusted for inflation, Avatar is currently the second highest-grossing
movie of all time after Gone with the Wind.
That's crazy and to think people are saying that no ones interested in this film
about blue people anymore, is quite laughable to me.
Now I'm not saying that they are wrong or anything and for all we know Avatar might
struggle to make a billion.
But I do think it's silly to completely underestimate the director that with two films running,
has set some of the biggest records at the box office of all
time.
And he did that with a space of 12 years between them.
Avatar 2 is a sequel to the biggest of those two highlighted films, and it's releasing
in the same sort of timeframe that Avatar and Titanic had between each other.
After all, there's also going to be a huge push on what will make people want to see
this new Avatar film.
And we know that one of those factors is going to be what really enticed
people originally about the first film.
And that is the new groundbreaking technology.
James Cameron intended for Avatar to be more than just a movie, but a one-of-a-kind theatrical
event experience that brought people in to witness something they hadn't seen before.
In achieving that there was new technology developed with motion capture animation to
capture detailed facial expressions and new systems
to make larger environments have deeper and more-textured CGI components.
It was groundbreaking in that Cameron wanted the CGI to look as
realistic as it could be, and not utlise the modern approach of throwing actors in front
of a green screen with subjects appearing in front of locations that look flatter and
more unrealistic in comparison.
It raised the bar for how technology and mostly digital environments in filmmaking could look
and serve as part of the narrative.
Which Pandora and the Na'vi did in the first Avatar film.
The film also made the 3D format popular again and inspired many other films to release in
3D in the following years and Televisions would also try to
feature the technology more too.
Now while 3D has become outdated and it's not as popular today, that was mainly because
not much other films used the technology as correctly as Cameron
did.
He knew and discovered how to really produce a great 3D image using the correct colours
and it resulted in something that still looks visually incredible today.
But yes, not much other filmmakers had really polished the technology
or upped it following Avatar.
Now I don't think 3D is going to be the form of technology this time around and I believe
that Cameron would want to do something different to really
get people talking in a new way about these sequels.
Just like with the original Avatar, Cameron himself has claimed that he has invented
new technologies for Avatar 2 to forever change the way movies are made.
And since much of Avatar 2 will take place underwater, with the sub-heading of the film
currently titled as "The Way Of Water", the filmmaker has apparently
designed underwater motion capture technology that requires the actors to be submerged in
a huge tanks that mimic ocean currents.
Then visual effects crews have to animate the actors'
faces while they are underwater.
Cameron has explained that there is a difference between the method he's using on Avatar 2
and the one that is traditionally used to film underwater scenes,
which suspends actors in the air on wires.
So it's clear that he's bringing a new form of technology with these films that he hopes
can capture the imagination and build the hype
in a similar way that technology was groundbreaking with the original film.
And again, just think about what one of the masters of digital
filmmaking could do with a sequel to the biggest film of all time releasing over 13 years later.
What I will continue to say is, don't underestimate James Cameron.
In the many years between the first film and Avatar 2, people's opinions on the franchise
have of course changed.
There has been too much time in between and it's a huge task to try
to make audiences care about a project that hasn't been fresh for over a decade.
The advances in CGI and the other technological innovations it pushed forward, have become
standard for some movie franchises, even though I'd
personally argue that they haven't been done as successfully in many instances.
But it does become harder to maintain the interest in an
Avatar sequel, especially when you consider that the first film wrapped up all of it's
central story beats.
Then again, it's clear that over the decades which this filmmaker has been
crafting films, he has showcased that he truly cares about what he's making, with an extended
filmography to prove it.
For someone who waits decades to make a movie as stunning as it
can be and then still produce the highest grossers of all time, just tells us that this
is a director who can continuously bring success.
Producing many films that have remained beloved and stood the test of time, whether it be
Aliens, Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, or Titanic, he knows how to really create
an epic for that time period.
Many critics were proved wrong about the first Avatar and if
the sequel is anything like the first one and has a stronger story that can build a
saga out in this very expandable world, than it has the
potential to be another huge hit with general audiences.
Do I think it can make $2.8 billion like the first one, no.
But I do think it has a great chance of making $2 billion and I
would definitely put my cards on the table for that number when all is said and done.
And if that happens and people like it, the sequels will only go up from there.
It is gonna be interesting to see, but for me, James Cameron
is the type of filmmaker that has proven he can make huge box office hits decades apart
and really do something groundbreaking with each
feature he makes.
Whether that's in technology or the type of story he's telling.
The trailer will of course release this May and only time will tell if he has pulled it
off yet again.
I think he will and I think people online are underestimating the box office power of
Avatar with general audiences.
But we shall soon see and I think the response to that first trailer
is definitely going to be a big indicator.
But that was my video discussing why I think Avatar 2 has the potential to bring in huge
record-breaking numbers which follow those that the first film set over a decade ago.
Again, while I don't think that Avatar 2 will make
$2.8 billion like the first film did in 2009, I still think it's going to be pretty huge,
and I also think that many people online are underestimating it's potential and have previously
with director James Cameron.
I think it has the opportunity of hitting the $2 billion mark if this film is good,
and for it to be the same sort of hit, it needs the longevity
that the first film was able to pull off.
Technology is of course a big factor like with the first one, but with this being the
start of 4 planned sequels, it suggests to me that Cameron
has a much bigger and interesting story planned this time around.
He's delivered timeless ones over and over again, so I wouldn't be
surprised if we got a much better narrative with the Avatar sequels.
We'll have to see but I honestly think that Avatar 2 can be groundbreaking for many different
reasons, and this filmmaker and saga shouldn't be underestimated
if history tells us anything.
But let me know down below in the comments section how well you think Avatar 2 can perform
at the worldwide box office alongside whether you are personally
excited for what James Cameron will do in the sequels.
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