Avatar: The Way of Water just released in theaters five days ago. But that’s not stopping people from wondering if James Cameron will release a director’s cut of the sequel in the future. The current answer: Don’t hold your breath like Kate Winslet during filming.
Producer Jon Landau talked with Polygon recently about Avatar: The Way of Water and a possible director’s cut. If you didn’t know, Cameron had some intriguing ideas for a 6-hour, streaming-specific version of a film and then a regular theatrical release of the same movie in a Variety feature piece. Landau tried to explain the situation and why that’s not comparable to the Avatar sequel.
“I think Jim is seizing on opportunities for other stories with two different cuts–the idea would be that you build a larger, epic narrative that can last 6 hours, and you pull a 2-and-a-half-hour movie out of it,” Landau said. Regarding The Way of Water or even Avatar 3 receiving extended editions, Landau stated: “We don’t have the amount of content to do that.”
Keep in mind that Avatar: The Way of Water features tons of special effects. So creating a longer version of the movie isn’t as simple as re-inserting cutscenes. Weta FX, who Cameron has called the best visual effects company in the business, would have to work on those sequences to help them seamlessly fit into the film.
Also add in the fact that Cameron has previously mentioned Avatar 2 is the “worst business case in movie history,” and an even more expensive, longer version of the film seems like a further stretch. That said, Avatar: The Way of Water has already brought in roughly $500 million so far. That’s helped push Disney to over $4 billion in box office ticket receipts for the year.
For more on the sequel, be sure to check out GameSpot’s Avatar: The Way of Water review.
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