With “Avatar: Fire and Ash” hitting theaters this holiday season, Disney+ is releasing a two-part documentary that goes behind the making of its 2022 predecessor, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” this November.
A major reason why it took 13 years for an “Avatar” sequel to get made was that director James Cameron was waiting for the technology to catch up to his vision. The documentary “Fire and Water” goes into the groundbreaking, Oscar-winning visual effects work that went into creating the sequel’s breathtaking underwater scenes, as well as the immense preparations the cast had to do to be able to hold their breath underwater for upwards of three minutes to shoot the scenes Cameron wanted.
“We’re not just making images out of nothing. People work for years on the clothing, the props … we had to figure out how to ride a creature. You’ve got to build something that moves like the creature,” Cameron says. “The actors are doing everything you see a character do.”
Along with Cameron, “Fire and Water” features interviews with the film’s cast, including Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang. It also features images from the late series producer Jon Landau, who died last year.
“Fire and Water” hits Disney+ Nov. 7, and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” hits theaters Dec. 19. Watch the documentary trailer in the clip above.
