‘Avatar 2: The sense of water’ shows 15 minutes of footage at the Busan Film Festival

Avatar: The Water Sensethe long-awaited sequel to Avatarthe James Cameron film that broke all box office records in 2009, is getting closer. Avatar Not only did it become an audience success in 2009, it made everyone think that the cinema had found a new way to reverse the declining audience. In the end, it turned out that the solution lay in superheroes and interconnected universes that force you to watch several movies to follow the next one, a serial hook that has made the audience loyal for decades on television. However, in that 2009 we believed that the solution would be more cinematographic, as was betting on panoramic color before the arrival of television in the homes of the middle class. The solution was called 3D, and it even made many think that buying a 3D TV was only a matter of time.

Ten years later, virtual reality has not just entered with force, both due to the scarce supply and the high price of the equipment. And 3D has returned to being in the cinema what it has been since its invention in the 1950s, something residual. But that 3D was, at least in the first installment of Avatar, the reason why we all went to see it at the cinema and were blown away by Pandora. Then, though, she came to our televisions, without 3D, and all we saw was a faded blue Pocahontas.

13 years later, Avatar returns and, although it is difficult to foresee the success of all the planned films of the saga (up to the fifth), it is evident that we have learned the lesson. You have to go to the 3D cinema to see Avatar 2. It’s that or nothing. An event that will have a hard time not to break the box office again and that with each promotional movement increases the hype world. However, few foresaw his last step, that of showing no less than 15 minutes of footage.

The venue chosen has been the Busan Festival in South Korea, an important event for the industry that is something like the Asian Toronto Festival. Led by producer Johan Landau, the audience had to pay 7,000 Won, about 5 euros, for the 3D glasses but nothing for the ticket. After that, they were able to attend and enjoy 15 minutes of footage and a talk after the viewing with the producer about the technology that has made what they have just seen capable.

Although the Korean alphabet makes it quite futile for us to share public reaction tweets, they were very positive and enthusiastic. Logically, those who attended such an event were fans of the already franchise, but they all agreed that James Cameron and the team had confidence in showing such an amount of footage for good reason: “you can smell the money” is one of the best translations into the reactions that we have read, although they all boil down to the fact that Avatar 2 looks awesome. According to Landau, if with the first delivery they pursued a photographic effect in the images, with this one they have tried to achieve “photorealism”.

On December 16, 2022, almost as a Christmas present, we will be able to see if Avatar 2: The Water Sense they have succeeded.