Avatar: The Way of Water is a 2022 American epic science fiction film directed by James Cameron from a screenplay he co-wrote with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, with a story the trio wrote with Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno. Produced by Lightstorm Entertainment and TSG Entertainment, and distributed by 20th Century Studios, it is the sequel to Avatar (2009) and the second installment in the Avatar film series. The film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Kate Winslet. It follows a blue-skinned humanoid Na'vi named Jake Sully (Worthington) as he and his family, under renewed human threat, seek refuge with the aquatic Metkayina clan of Pandora, a habitable exomoon on which they live.
 James Cameron received multiple awards and nominations for his direction in the film. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nominations | 132 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Avatar: The Way of Water premiered in London on December 6, 2022, and was released in the United States on December 16. Produced on a budget of $350–460 million, The Way of Water grossed $2.320 billion, finishing its theatrical run as the highest-grossing film of 2022 and the third-highest-grossing film of all time. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 76% based on 449 reviews.
Avatar: The Way of Water garnered many awards and nominations in various categories with particular recognition for Cameron's direction as well as its musical score, visual effects, cinematography, production design, and sound effects. It received four nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film won Best Visual Effects. At the 76th British Academy Film Awards, it was nominated for Best Sound, and won Best Special Visual Effects. The Way of Water received six nominations at the 28th Critics' Choice Awards and won Best Visual Effects.
Avatar: The Way of Water garnered two nominations at the 80th Golden Globe Awards. The film won two awards at the 50th Annie Awards. At the 21st Visual Effects Society Awards, it was nominated for fourteen awards, a record that surpassed the number of previous ones for film (Avatar) and television (The Mandalorian). The film won nine, including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. In addition, both the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review selected The Way of Water as one of the top ten films of 2022.