Amph James Cameron's Avatar (The Way of Water + sequels)

And the background cameos.

 

I think it has to be. It truly pushed new technologies and techniques forward or combined earlier tech in new ways. I don't see how TG could match that. It's effects work was mostly pretty good, but the most notable stuff is stuff that has been done before- it's just done well.

 

I can buy a lot of the things changing in the edit. I’m almost positive that the Tulkun returning originally happened before Lo’ak meets Payakan, as a better introduction to their sentience.

 

Yeah, sounds like the digital version will be the end of the month, but, typically, physical BD releases come out a few days to a couple weeks later. So April for that- probably in time for Earth Day. And D+ sometime after the BD. But the dates for BD and D+ have not been announced yet.

EDIT- Full list of the 3 hours of bonus content (notably, no deleted scenes or alternate cuts- presumably content being saved for the BD and D+), but the availability of these will apparently vary depending on platform:

Inside Pandora's Box

• Building the World of Pandora – James Cameron and a team of talented artists combine years of research with their design skills to build the world of Pandora with new characters, creatures, indigenous clans, underwater environments and the take-no-prisoners hard-tech world of the RDA.
• Capturing Pandora – James Cameron's approach to performance capture has the cast performing in a volume rigged with infrared cameras to capture their movement, and head rig cameras to capture emotion on their faces with only the boundaries of imagination to limit them.
• The Undersea World of Pandora – Co-production designer Dylan Cole and his team conceive of the marine creatures required for Avatar: The Way of Water while James Cameron and his stunt team devise extraordinary means to bring those creatures to life in a performance capture tank.
• The Challenges of Pandora's Waters – James Cameron tackles the "non-trivial challenge" of performance capture above and below the water's surface, utilizing a wave machine and current generator to reproduce ocean conditions, and underwater vehicles to replicate creature movement.
• Pandora's Returning Characters – James Cameron reunites with his returning cast – Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang. Together they discuss the amazing evolution of their characters in Avatar: The Way of Water.
• Pandora's Next Generation – Meet the talented young newcomers who have been cast as the next generation of Na'vi and follow them through the adventure of making Avatar: The Way of Water.
• Spider's Web – James Cameron introduced the human character of Spider into the fabric of Pandora – thus creating a host of technological challenges on set… and an incredible journey for the young actor, Jack Champion.
• Becoming Na'vi – The Avatar cast is immersed in the culture of the indigenous Na'vi, living off the land in the Hawaiian rainforest and training in a multitude of disciplines in preparation for their roles.
• The Reef People of Pandora – In true James Cameron-style, the Metkayina reef clan has been developed with great attention to detail, bearing unique evolutionary traits and a culture – with new dwellings, new clothes and different way of life – all a result of living off the ocean.
• Bringing Pandora to Life – Once James Cameron completes his virtual production process, every sequence is turned over to Wētā FX to bring Pandora to life – with unprecedented advancements in facial performance, environments and making CG water look real.
• The RDA Returns to Pandora – Co-production designer Ben Procter and his team present an armada of new vehicles and human technologies that the RDA brings to Pandora – in concept design and with practical builds.
• The New Characters of Pandora – Meet the important new characters of the Avatar saga played by Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell and Jemaine Clement.
• The Sounds of Pandora – Hear how James Cameron worked with composer Simon Franglen to create the distinctive music of The Way of Water while building on James Horner's brilliant score for Avatar, and learn how Chris Boyes created the immersive sounds of Pandora.
• New Zealand – Pandora's Home – The production of the Avatar sequels is so thoroughly ensconced in New Zealand that James Cameron considers The Way of Water a "New Zealand film." Hear reflections from the cast and crew, including the remarkable New Zealand crew, on making the film.

More from Pandora's Box

• Casting – Discover the screen tests that won the talented young cast their roles in Avatar: The Way of Water.
• Stunts – The Avatar stunt team isn't just creating breathtaking action, they're driving the story. From racing underwater on ilus, flying the skies on ikrans, to maneuvering RDA speed boats, the stunt team leaves you breathless and wanting more.
• The Lab – Explore the Lightstorm Lab, the backbone of virtual production for the Avatar films. Comprised of specialized teams, the Lab builds & supports every aspect of the production – environments, motion edit, Kabuki, sequence, post-viz and software development.
• The Troupe – Avatar's Troupe is the Swiss Army Knife of acting, while playing dozens of roles on set, in the performance capture volume and on live-action sets, they bring life to Na'vi clans and RDA Recoms. They also play Na'vi-scale puppets on the live-action sets.

Marketing Materials & Music Video

• "Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)" Music Video – Multi-Grammy-winning, music superstar, The Weeknd, performs his emotionally packed end title song in the official music video for the smash hit "Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)."
• Theatrical Trailers 1 & 2 – Avatar: The Way of Water used two theatrical trailers to engage the audience. The first was a teaser trailer released 7 months before the film. The second was a standard trailer that premiered 5 weeks before the film's release.

 

The 3 month theatrical window itself is notably a pre-pandemic notion. They know they can milk this with a traditional digital/rental release -> BD release -> streaming rollout. Then rerelease the BD in an extended cut 6 months later to make us double-dip .

 

The earlier rumor was that the rough cut of A3 was 9 hours and that Cameron wanted all of the FX done before he started editing. So, 9 hours could be seen as an assembly cut- which are often 2-3x longer than director's cuts and theatrical cuts.

This rumor could be Cameron finding a way to justify the cost involved (much how the SE was released to theaters to pay for the FX to finish the additional scenes in the SE & ECE vesions of A1). So long as it comes out on BD too! Cameron extended cuts must have a physical release dammit!

 

A theory that occurred to me that may make this seem less outlandish:

-A2 & A3 were originally one script.
-A2 is supposedly not getting an extended edition.
-Conclusion: the 9-hour miniseries is an extended cut of A2 AND A3, recombined into a single story.