Challenges, records, and sequels. A bird's-eye view of the endless journey of "Avatar"

Will the sequel feature 3D viewing without glasses?

There are plans for "Avatar" to be expanded into a five-part series. The second film, tentatively titled "Avatar 2," was originally scheduled for release in 2014, but the release date has been repeatedly postponed. In May of this year, the new release date was set for December 17, 2021, partly due to the acquisition of distribution rights holder 20th Century Fox by Disney in March of this year. The third film is scheduled to be released on December 22, 2023, the fourth on December 19, 2025, and the fifth on December 17, 2027.

Filming for the second and third movies began in the summer of 2017 and is still ongoing. Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana will reprise their roles as Jake and Neytiri, as well as Giovanni Ribisi, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang (who are all actors you may have wondered about if they were cast in the first movie).

"Avatar" (C)2013 Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Major new cast members include Kate Winslet as a Native American, Michelle Yeoh as a female researcher, and Vin Diesel, whose specific role is yet to be revealed.

The main technical challenge for the second film will be the performance capture of the underwater scenes, with Winslet playing the role of Ronal, a skilled diver, and sure to be a key character.

Cameron's collaboration with Sony continues. In June 2018, Cameron's film production company Lightstorm Entertainment announced that it would use Sony's new cinema camera "VENICE" for the sequel to "Avatar" ( Sony press release ). VENICE is also included in the lineup of CineAlta brands adopted by the Fusion System. Cameron commented that VENICE "has rich, deep, velvety-soft dark areas and amazingly bright highlights."

(Note: if you search for keywords such as "Sony VENICE" on YouTube, you will find many hits of short films and demo videos shot with the VENICE camera, including those in the highest quality 4K resolution. " Sony | CineAlta VENICE | "Venice: La Serenissima " and " Sony Venice in the Gower " show delicate and beautiful images of the water's surface. Movie buffs will surely want to check them out on a big screen and get excited about the waterside and underwater scenes in the "Avatar" sequels.)

Another interesting piece of information is that there are reports that Cameron is aiming to realize a projection technology that will allow 3D viewing without 3D glasses in the sequel. It is not clear whether it will be introduced in the second movie, or the third movie or later, or what specific standard will be adopted, but if it is realized, there is no doubt that Cameron will achieve another epoch-making feat in the history of cinema.

【reference】

1. " Avatar Extended Edition " Blu-ray Edition 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan

2. " James Cameron: The Man Who Stared at the End of the World " by Rebecca Keegan, translated by Shuntaro Yoshida, Film Art Publishing

Text: Ikuya Takamori

Freelance writer, English-Japanese translator. Mainly contributes movie reviews and columns to web media, and translates news articles. The translated book is ``Science of Star Wars--Thorough verification! From the true nature of the Force to intergalactic travel” (written by Mark Blake and John Chase, published by Kagaku Doujin) and others.

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