XPost: rec.arts.tv, alt.movies.james-cameron, rec.arts.movies.past-films

While "Avatar 2: The Way of Water" was by no means a guaranteed
success, director James Cameron already shot scenes for the third and
fourth installments of the franchise.

The filmmaker explained to Entertainment Weekly that he did it to avoid
a common problem in Hollywood that happens when years pass between
sequels -- actors to age too much for the storyline.

"Otherwise, you get -- and I love 'Stranger Things' -- but you get the 'Stranger Things' effect where they're supposed to still be in high
school [but] they look like they're 27," Cameron told the publication.
"You know, I love the show. It's OK, we'll suspend disbelief. We like
the characters, but, you know."

The phenomenon is more noticeable with adolescent actors who go through
extreme changes as they mature. Trinity Jo-Li Bliss was around 7 when
she was cast as Tuk in the "Avatar" sequel and has since become a
teenager. Similarly, 18-year-old actor Jack Champion plays Spider in
the movies and went through big changes since filming began when he was
13, leading Cameron to remark that he's "growing like a weed."

The first "Avatar" film came out in 2009, and the third installment is
slated for a 2024 release.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cameron discussed how
risky it was making a sequel more than a decade after the first
release. "There's skepticism in the marketplace. Can anybody even
remember the characters' names? We'll see what happens after this
film," he said.

The latest installment was a big gamble for Disney, costing more than
$350 million in production costs alone. If Cameron completes the
intended story, the total amount spent will exceed $1 billion. As of
this week, "The Way of Water" had surpassed $550 million in global
ticket sales, but it still hasn't reached a break-even point or become profitable, Variety noted.

Producer Jon Landau teased a bit of what the third and fourth "Avatar"
movies would include.

"Each movie is going to introduce audiences to new clans, new cultures
on Pandora," he told EW.

"Once we introduce a character, they stay a part of the ongoing
evolution. We just add to it. So you can expect to see the Metkayina
that you meet in this movie in subsequent movies. There are other clans
that we'll introduce in movie 3 that you'll see in movie 4 and so on
and so forth."

This is all banking on the success of "The Way of Water," of course,
which is still not guaranteed.

--
Let's go Brandon!

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