After being confirmed a few years ago, the Avatar sequel got an official title in April and now, the first trailer is available for everyone to see. It’s been a long journey for Avatar: The Way of Water to get here. 20th Century Studios first planned for the movie to hit theaters in December 2014, but it was delayed multiple times. A change of hands with Disney at the helm and nearly a decade later, fans are hoping that the current release date, December 16, will stick. As things stand, Disney is asking a lot from Avatar 2. The first film, which came out in 2009, has grossed $2.847 billion at the global box office, which is the highest of all time. Since then, the only film that has come close is 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Avatar 2 will be lucky to hit the $2 billion mark. Even so, Disney is confident enough to start filming on Avatar 2 that’s due out in 2024 with a fourth film scheduled for a 2026 release and a fifth one in the pipeline for 2028. According to Avatar: The Way of Water’s official synopsis, the sequel is “set more than a decade after the events of the first film” and will “tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and 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.” For those that can no longer recall what happened in 2009’s Avatar, the ending saw Sam Worthington’s Jake Sully transfer himself into his avatar permanently with the help of the Tree of Souls. Save for Jake, Norm, and a handful of others, all humans leave Pandora and go back to planet Earth. Jake then prepares to start a new life with Zoe Saldana’s Neytiri, which is probably where the sequel will pick off. What’s most interesting about the trailer is that it has become a showcase of the huge leap in VFX technology from 2009 to today, giving audiences a reason to check Avatar 2 out in theaters come the holiday season. With a few months to go until Avatar: The Way of Water premieres, you might want to start looking for your 3D glasses. It appears that Disney isn’t the only one that’s confident that Avatar 2 will do well at the box office. Warner Bros. Discovery also thinks that it can’t compete with the highly anticipated sequel as it has decided to push back the release of Shazam! Fury of the Gods to December 21.
