The first Avatar film was released in 2009. The dramatic love story of Jake Sully and Princess Neytiri in 2154 on the far away planet Pandora enchanted almost an entire generation. In the second part “Avatar: The way of water”, which will be released on December 14, the main characters have aged.
Jake and Neytiri are now parents to teenagers. And this time they have to save themselves from the humans. But they have become even more dangerous: They do not want to mine the rare element unobtanium like in the first part, but this time they want to colonize the entire planet. Because the earth is dying due to the climate crisis.
But Jake and Neytiri are no longer alone: they also have to protect their children. One of them: adopted 15-year-old Kiri, played by Sigourney Weaver, 73. Yes, you read that right: Weaver plays a character 60 years her junior.
Sigourney Weaver had to be really fit for the shoot, because a lot of it was filmed underwater. As she revealed to “Entertainment Tonight”, it required special training: “On the first day of training, I could hold my breath for a minute. I worked with an instructor who normally teaches Navy Seals for a year to learn how you can hold your breath longer and longer. We had to spend long days underwater.” She can now stay under water for six minutes. She also tries to do some sport every day, such as aerobics or stretching.
But something else helped with the makeover: the motion capture technology used throughout the film. Motion capture is a technique with which the movements of actors can be recorded in great detail in order to then transform them into fictional beings on the computer. This is how the blue fantasy creatures come to life.
By the way, anyone who has just watched the first “Avatar” part again should recognize Sigourney Weaver: she played Dr. Grace Augustine. She was the leading scientist and researched botany on Pandora and had an avatar herself. She ran the Avatar program, making her Jake Sully’s boss. At the end of part 1 she died.
But her avatar gave birth to another child, as director James Cameron revealed in an interview with “Entertainment Weekly”. “It’s like Kiri was born from Grace’s avatar. It was a natural birth, Grace’s avatar is brain dead but Kiri is not. Kiri is normal.” From boss to adoptive parents’ daughter. Certainly just an exciting aspect of the new “Avatar” story.
Quellen: “The Hollywood Reporter”, “Entertainment Weekly”, “Entertainment Tonight”
