After more than a decade, James Cameron's highly-anticipated sequel to 2009's box office milestone Avatar will finally arrive this year. With the official title, Avatar: The Way of Water, the sequel will continue following the Na’vi society and the unexplored underwater regions of Pandora.
Although the official runtime hasn't yet been announced, James Cameron gets ahead and already addressed future criticisms regarding Avatar: The Way of Water's extended runtime. According to him, it feels unfair that people are criticizing a three-hour film when they could binge-watch hours of TV shows in one sitting. "I don't want anybody whining about length when they sit and binge-watch [television] for eight hours ... I can almost write this part of the review," Cameron told Empire Magazine (via SlashFilm). "'The agonisingly long three-hour movie...' It's like, give me a f---ing break. I've watched my kids sit and do five one-hour episodes in a row." "Here's the big social paradigm shift that has to happen: it's okay to get up and go pee," the director added. 2009's Avatar was 162 minutes long and is lengthier than the average film runtime which is usually 100-130 minutes. However, many films have crossed the standard runtime like 2019's The Irishman (209 minutes), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (201 minutes), and Zack Snyder's Cut of Justice League (242 minutes). Assuming Cameron's recent statement, Avatar: The Way of Water might be three hours long, but aside from the needed bathroom breaks, fans might not actually mind seeing an extended runtime of the long-awaited sequel, of course, as long as its as good as the first. Nevertheless, James Cameron already implied that before you see Avatar: The Way of Water, you must take a trip to the bathroom first. Avatar: The Way of Water will hit the big screens on December 16. Also read: Avatar: The Way of Water Reveals New Look at Stephen Lang's New Na'vi Body