Avatar: The Way of Water Trailer Unites Jake’s Family With the Metkayina Clan, Advance Booking Now Open in India

Avatar: The Way of Water just got a final trailer. Disney and 20th Century Studios have dropped a final trailer for the much-anticipated sequel, expanding on the magical world of Pandora by transporting fans to the bottom of the deep blue sea. Set more than a decade since the original 2009 film, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) have started a family. As a familiar threat in the form of mecha-robots rises on the horizon, they're forced to relocate and request help from the shoreline Metkayina Na'vi clan. Avatar: The Way of Water releases December 16 in theatres.

Avatar: The Way of Water trailer

“Treat them as our brothers and sisters,” Metkayina leader Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) tells his clan members. “Teach them our ways.” While initially dismissed for being outcasts, the shoreline tribe now seems to have taken Jake's pleas into consideration, seeing as how an alliance between the two could benefit during the greater war. “If you want to live here, you have to ride,” young free-diver Aonung instructs Jake's (Worthington) children before the group embarks on a thrilling underwater excursion, mounting the slug-like Ilu — akin to the direhorses of terrestrial Na'vi. The Avatar: The Way of Water trailer then focuses on the Metkayina's close relationship with tulkuns, the sentient whale-like creatures, with whom our heroes learn to communicate.

Midway through Avatar: The Way of Water trailer, human-piloted mecha-robots, armed with flamethrowers, invade the lands and start burning everything in sight. Both tribes unite for the occasion, riding atop the airborne Skimwings and unloading primitive attacks in the form of long spears and arrows, aiming for weak spots in the attackers' space crafts. As seen in the previous trailer, the sequel continues its trend of forbidden romances — in this case, between Jake's son Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) and Metkayina native Tsireya (Bailey Bass). When venting about being born as an outcast, the latter assures him of her trust, saying, “I see you” — a callback to the 2009 Avatar movie.

Avatar: The Way of Water advance booking

Advance bookings for James Cameron's much-awaited sequel are now open across India in premium formats. Ticket sales are live on BookMyShow and Paytm, with 20th Century Studios claiming that Avatar: The Way of Water will witness 24 hours of shows running at selected theatres, with first showings starting at 12am onwards.

Speaking to GQ Magazine, director Cameron expressed his concerns about wanting to break even on Avatar: The Way of Water, claiming that it was very expensive to make and that it represented “the worst business case in movie history.” In order for it to be profitable, he said, “you have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. That's your threshold. That's your break even.” This amounts to a $2 billion figure (about Rs. 16,400), competing against his own 1997 romance film, Titanic. In an interview with Total Film, earlier this month, the filmmaker stated that he was prepared to end the Avatar franchise with a trilogy, if The Way of Water underperforms, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and streaming platforms as hurdles.

Avatar: The Way of Water releases December 16 in theatres worldwide. In India, the film will be released in English, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu.