An ocean of potential

"I think if I were a young audience member hearing that, (I) would be like, 'ah, boring, I don't want to hear about family'. But it's very much told from the point of view of these teenage kids that are refugees. They're having to leave the home that they grew up in. They're going to a new culture, and they have to learn how to fit in and be accepted," Cameron adds.

The director reveals that the third Avatar film, which was previously announced to be released in December 2024, has wrapped up filming and is currently in post-production.

Earlier last year, China re-released the first Avatar film, triggering a nostalgic wave of theatergoing and helping the movie overtake Avengers: Endgame to reclaim the world's all-time biggest box-office title.

The new Avatar film, The Way of Water, has also formed a closer connection with Chinese filmmakers, with the first clip from the film screened through the CINITY projectors, self-developed by China Film Group Corporation, in Europe earlier this year.

Zhi Feina, a professor at the Chinese National Academy of Arts, says that China has around a total of 180 screens — respectively 110 CINITY and over 70 Dolby Cinema — that could screen the original format designed by Cameron, more than that of the US.

With the recent adjustment to China's pandemic control policy, Zhi says she believes the new Avatar film will be the first blockbuster of this chilly winter to provide some warmth and comfort to the struggling domestic movie market.