Why Did It Take 13 Years to Make ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’?

Hollywood usually cranks out sequels as fast as they can make them. But it took 13 years for Avatar: The Way of Water to follow the original Avatar. James Cameron hasn’t made a single feature film between the two. So why did it take so long?

That‘s the subject of our latest Avatar video. And it turns out, there isn’t just one simple answer but a combination of factors that led to it taking more than a decade for a new Avatar. For example, James Cameron wanted to make several sequels back-to-back, but that meant he needed to write all the scripts before he shot anything. Plus, Cameron wanted to make the first sequel about underwater Pandoran creatures, but the technology to do traditional motion-capture doesn’t work underwater. So Cameron and his team basically had to invent a totally new way to do mocap underwater.

And those are just two of the reasons why The Way of Water took so long. For more, watch the video below:

If you liked that video on why it took so long to make a sequel to Avatar, check out more of our videos below, including one on the future of the Avatar franchise and our theories about Avatar 3, all the Easter eggs and Avatar references in The Way of Water, and our recap of the original Avatar. Plus, there’s tons more videos over at ScreenCrush’s YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to catch all our future episodes. Avatar: The Way of Water is now playing in theaters everywhere.