NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� James Cameron has been living on Pandora for a long time.
But 13 years after the original 鈥淎vatar鈥� and five years after starting production on its sequel, Cameron is unveiling the long-awaited follow-up to the highest grossing film of all-time. Speaking the day after 鈥淭he Way of Water鈥� debuted in London, Cameron 鈥� back on Earth and self-admittedly out of practice with the hoopla of a red-carpet premiere 鈥� describes the experience of finally having the movie out in the world 鈥渟urreal.鈥�
鈥淵ou work on these films kind of in a bubble. You create this world around you with your artists, with your casts and so on,鈥� Cameron says. 鈥淭hen one day you realize, 鈥極h crap, we鈥檙e going to have to show this to people at some point.鈥欌��
For a long time, the 鈥淎vatar鈥� sequel was the 鈥淲aiting for Godot鈥� of blockbusters 鈥� more theoretical than real, with release dates that kept spiraling into the future. Meanwhile, an of pieces pondered : a box-office behemoth with little cultural footprint, a $3 billion ghost.
But the first look at Cameron鈥檚 鈥淎vatar鈥� sequel has thrown some cold water on that notion. The to the director鈥檚 latest three-hour opus? Never bet against James Cameron.
With a reported price tag of more than $350 million, a third 鈥淎vatar鈥� film already wrapped and two more films planned after that, the Walt Disney Co. is placing a very big wager, indeed, on 鈥淭he Way of Water.鈥� But regardless of jokes about blue people or , Cameron鈥檚 latest 鈥� a deep-blue ocean epic of natural splendor, ecological protectionism and family perseverance 鈥� is poised to again blow audiences away, and possibly, once more rake in billions.
The film, which opens in theaters Thursday, might be Cameron鈥檚 most ambitious undertaking yet -- which is saying something for the 68-year-old filmmaker of 鈥淭itanic,鈥� 鈥淭he Terminator鈥� and 鈥淎liens.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to do anything but big swings,鈥� Cameron says.
We've been here before. After cost overruns and delays, 鈥淭itanic鈥� was written off as a sure-to-bomb case study of Hollywood excess. Then it made $2.2 billion in ticket sales and won 11 Oscars. Not everyone was pre-sold on 鈥淎vatar,鈥� either, which resuscitated 3-D after decades of dormancy.
鈥淭here was a guarded skepticism around this film," he adds, 鈥渁s there should always be with any new film.鈥�
鈥淭he Way of Water,鈥� which Cameron scripted with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, takes place a decade after the events of the first 鈥淎vatar.鈥� Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), the paralyzed Marine who donned an avatar on Pandora, is now fully enmeshed in the remote world of the Na鈥檝i. He and Neytiri (Zoe Salda帽a) have three teenage children. When human soldiers come hunting for him, Jake moves his family to a reef clan of Na鈥檝i who live harmoniously with the ocean.
The trials the family endures turn surprisingly wrenching in what's already been called Cameron's most emotional film. That may be partly because much of Cameron鈥檚 own experience as a father raising five children in New Zealand is woven into the film, as is his early life growing up in Ontario as the eldest son of an electrical engineer father.
鈥淚 remember what that was like for me. I鈥檝e been Lo-ak,鈥� says Cameron, referring to Jake and Neytiri鈥檚 middle son. 鈥淚鈥檝e been the kid whose father doesn鈥檛 get him or see him. I don鈥檛 mean to disparage my dad. He was a great dad of that period in the sense of putting a roof over our heads and out there working hard, breadwinner. But he didn鈥檛 know what to do with an artist kid. He didn鈥檛 know what to do with a flamboyant artist whose head was out in interstellar space all the time.鈥�
鈥淭he Way of Water,鈥� which is being shown in 3-D and 48-frames-per-second (double the standard), also means a new generation of technological advancement. While it's unlikely to be as much a milestone as the first was visually, the blend of CGI and live action, above ground and under water, makes for an even more strikingly detailed vistas.
鈥淲e鈥檙e able to deliver a much greater ability of photorealism than we ever did before,鈥� says producer Jon Landau. 鈥淲hen we made the first movie, I would say to people, 鈥榃e need it to be photographic.鈥� Now in this movie, we have so many Avatar, Na鈥檝i characters in the live-action world and we have so many live-action characters in the Pandora world, we need to be photoreal. That鈥檚 a new standard we have to live up to.鈥�
That's most beautifully rendered in the film's waters, where teeming science-fiction species of flora and fauna enrich an imagined ocean paradise. To Cameron, an avid deep-sea explorer , 鈥淭he Way of the Water鈥� is his grand ode to the ocean.
鈥淚t鈥檚 also a cri de coeur to people around the world to protect and be guardians of the oceans, to be guardians of nature, in general. That鈥檚 what these 鈥楢vatar鈥� movies are about,鈥� Cameron says.
At the 鈥淲ay of Water鈥� premiere in London, Cameron was struck by how the audience looked different to him. It was a black-tie affair, unusual for him as a director, but that wasn't only it.
鈥淚 looked out at that audience and everybody looked so beautiful and they put so much energy into just showing up. It struck me that maybe we鈥檙e back,鈥� Cameron says. 鈥淢aybe cinema鈥檚 back. Maybe enough people out there do care about that dream of cinema.鈥�
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
