Before 2022 turns into 2023 we’ll be returning to the lush moon of Pandora for the first time in 13 years when James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water hits cinemas. It’s certainly been a long wait, but it won’t be repeated. Fans will be happy to know that Avatar 3 already has a release date: December 20, 2024.
That release date is helped in no small part by the fact that Cameron has been shooting The Way of Water and Avatar 3 simultaneously, starting back in 2017. For those whose memories are a little dim, or who have somehow missed the avalanche of advertising and promotion leading up to the release of The Way of Water, the Avatar series tells the tale of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) a disabled former marine who gives up his human life to live with the blue, catlike, alien Na’vi people on Pandora. He leads them in an uprising against the human colonisers who want to strip-mine their sacred sites for the ridiculously valuable element, Unobtainium.
The Way of Water picks up a number of years later, with Jake and his Na’vi love, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) now raising their children, only to come into conflict with the human invaders once more. This time out much of the story is set in Pandora’s teeming oceans, which is extremely exciting when you consider Cameron’s oceanographic exploits—an alien underwater biome designed by one of the world’s leading deep sea explorers should be something to see.
As for Avatar 3? Your guess is as good as ours—we barely have plot details for The Way of Water, and that’s due out in a few weeks, so there’s no telling what’s going to happen in the third chapter. We do know that David Thewlis is joining the cast in an undisclosed role, though. Other than that, all we have is a date—mark your calendars accordingly.
