James Cameron Says No Whining Over 'Avatar 2' Massive Runtime

The wait is finally almost over. Has anyone actually been waiting? What I’m trying to say is that the next Avatar film is almost upon us. Avatar: The Way of Water is set to be released on 14 December, 2022. When the previous film was released back in 2009, I went to see it on a school trip as a wee young un’ and here I am all these years later talking about the sequel.

There are a couple of things I remember about Avatar. There’s blue people. There’s Sigourney Weaver. There’s the use of the Papyrus font (forever immortalised by Ryan Gosling). The thing that sticks out in my mind the most though is the runtime, and Avatar: The Way of Water is set to be another whopper.

Take a look at the trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water right here.

According to Avatar: The Way of Water director James Cameron, the film is clocking in at around three hours, but don’t chime in about getting a numb bum or needing a loo break, because Cameron has some choice words for those of you who want to complain.

In an interview with Empire, Cameron argued that if people binge watch TV shows, there’s no reason why they should have an issue with Avatar: The Way of Water. My dude, you are forgetting about a handy little invention called the pause button which just so happens to be unavailable at the cinema but hey, go off.

Cameron said, “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. ‘The agonisingly long three-hour movie…’ It’s like, give me a f**king 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 trolls will have it that nobody gives a shit and they can’t remember the characters’ names or one damn thing that happened in the movie. Then they see the movie again and go, ‘Oh, okay, excuse me, let me just shut the f**k up right now.’ So I’m not worried about that,” he continued. To be fair, I have rewatched Avatar as a now-grown adult and it is an epic film. Still, you cannot deny the discomfort that is shuffling in your seat because you can’t feel your backside. It’s just a fact.