The title of the much-awaited sequel to James Cameron’s Avatar has been revealed at CinemaCon. The film is called Avatar: The Way of Water. Footage from the science-fiction film was also screened at the event, and as per reports, viewers were provided with 3D glasses. It appears that as with the original 2009 film, Cameron is going to set visual benchmarks with the sequels as well.

Deadline reported that the footage showed different regions of Pandora, an Earth-like habitable extrasolar moon of the gas giant Polyphemus from the Alpha Centauri system, which was also the setting of the original film. The footage also had shots of the Na’vi interacting with aquatic mammals like whales.

Cameron said on stage, “With the first Avatar, we set out to push the limits of the big screen. With the new Avatar films, we’re pushing those limits even farther, with 3D, with high dynamic range, with high frame rate, higher resolution, and a much greater reality in our visual effects.”

The original Avatar was a megahit with both critics and audiences. It is currently the highest-grossing film in history, unadjusted for inflation. The film flipped the narrative. Instead of aliens invading Earth, the humans invaded Pandora, populated by the Na’vi, a peace and nature-loving, blue-hued species with feline-ish eyes, to mine the territory of a valuable mineral called Unobtanium.The film starred Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver in the lead roles. All of them will return in the sequels.

Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Michelle Yeoh, Jemaine Clement, Oona Chaplin, David Thewlis, CJ Jones and Vin Diesel are joining the franchise’s cast with the sequels.

Avatar 2 is set to be released on December 16, 2022.