Thirteen years ago, Avatar, the science fiction film, hit theaters. Now 4,746 days later, the second installment in the franchise is scheduled to do the same. 

     Avatar: The Way of Water is set to release Dec. 16 in theaters. The original movie is the highest-grossing film of all time according to cbr.com. 

     The original Avatar film had a large budget of $237 million, while the new film has an even greater budget of $250 million. 

     After this film comes out, it is expected that every other year a new installation will hit theaters until 2028. That means there will be a total of five films in the franchise. To keep the storyline cohesive, “each film was written in tandem,” according to cbr.com. This means that all the films in the series have been written one after another since 2009. 

     According to cbr.com, the main actors in the film had to go through “free- diving training.” One actress in the film, Kate Winslet, learned to hold her breath for “seven and a half minutes.”

      Most of the film takes place under water; the director, James Cameron, wanted a realistic look to the movie. Filming underwater was the easiest way to accomplish this. 

    The original installment made a whopping $2.922 billion dollars according to collider.com. However, the second film must meet a certain goal for the movie to be profitable. At least $2 billion has to be brought in by Avatar: The Way of Water in order for the film to break even. 

    In 2009, when the Avatar first showed, the millennials of today were teenagers. Gen Z was too young to watch the film and appreciate it. In the present day, Gen Z are teenagers, but this means that most Gen Z probably do not care about the second installment. 

    Out of 109 people polled, 40 said they were planning to watch Avatar: The Way of Water, and 69 said they were not planning to watch the sequel. This statistic could mean that Avatar: The Way of Water may not reach the needed $2 billion. 

     This poll supplies a worrisome idea that Avatar: The Way of Water will not reach the $2 billion goal. 

     Freshman Payton Dinbokowitz says that she “does like the first film” and she is planning to view the second one. She thinks that “forty percent” of the film is CGI, but in reality, sixty percent of the film is made with CGI technology.