"Avatar" sequel will use underwater motion-capture

The sequels to the highest grossing film of all time will continue to push the boundaries of special effects

Published April 8, 2013 4:10PM (EDT)

A still from "Avatar"
A still from "Avatar"

Over the weekend, "Avatar" producer Jon Landau revealed a few tantalizing details into the sequels (and possible prequel) of the James Cameron fantasy story that has become the highest grossing film of all time.

Speaking to the NAB Technology Summit on Cinema, Landau revealed that the sequels will continue to push the boundaries on special effects, making use of "performance capture in water":

“We have kept a team of digital artists on from 'Avatar' in order to test how we can create performance capture underwater. We could simulate water [in CG], but we can’t simulate the actor’s experience, so we are going to capture performance in a tank.”

"We want to take advantage of the technologies brilliant people are putting out to make the next two movies even more emotionally engaging and visually tantalizing, and to really wrap up the story arc of our two main characters"

Though Cameron has been aiming for December 2014 and 2015 releases, a date has not yet been set.


By Prachi Gupta

Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com.

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Avatar Fantasy James Cameron Movies Sci-fi