When To Bathroom Break During Avatar 2 According To James Cameron

By Douglas Helm | Published

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Avatar 2 is right around the corner and The Hollywood Reporter just did a profile on James Cameron in anticipation of the massive film. Amongst the many insights the acclaimed director provided, he also let us know when the perfect time to take a bathroom break will be. According to Cameron, audience members can take a bathroom break during Avatar: The Way of Water, “Any time they want.”

While this may seem like James Cameron is saying that it’s not a big deal to miss a scene in Avatar 2, the real reason you can take a bathroom break at any time is much more characteristic of Cameron’s personality. He adds “They can see the scene they missed when they come see it again.” While this may come off as cocky coming from any other director, it’s just factual when James Cameron says it.

As The Hollywood Reporter points out in their article, the first Avatar opened to $79 million and only dropped eight percent per week for its ten-week theater run. Most movies see a much bigger drop, but this consistency, and the repeat viewings made Avatar the highest-grossing movie of all time. Undoubtedly, Avatar 2 will bring in plenty of repeat viewers as well so they won’t be as apprehensive about taking a bathroom break knowing they’ll likely be back.

The fact is most people who see Avatar 2 are going to need a bathroom break at some point, considering the film is set to run for over three hours. This is a massive runtime and plus there’s all that water on the screen. Unless you’re skipping that theater soda and you have an iron bladder, you may have to duck out of the theater at some point.

Of course, the world of Pandora in Avatar 2 inspires such fervor among fans that they might forgo their bathroom break and suffer through just to make sure they don’t miss a thing. The world of Pandora immersed people to such a degree that it actually caused depression in some viewers and inspired the official medical term ‘Avatar Syndrome.’ Hopefully, the sequel causes far less depression this time around.

If there’s one thing that audiences can count on, it’s that Avatar 2: The Way of Water is sure to be a visual spectacle, and yes, the second thing to count on is a need for a bathroom break. James Cameron is a master of his craft at this point in his career and the first Avatar pushed the boundaries of visual effects and immersive 3D technology. Avatar 2 is coming to us over a decade later and visual effects have advanced at an incredible pace since then. 

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Heading out for a bathroom break means you might be deprived of some of these visual effects, but again, there’s little doubt those enamored with the world Cameron has created will return for another viewing. While the first Avatar had its share of critics for essentially being Dance with Wolves with blue aliens, it was almost unanimously agreed that the best place to see the film was in theaters. The unmatched scale, visual prowess, and 3D on display brought people flocking to the theaters over and over again. 

There are many who think that Avatar 2 will not live up to box office expectations, and honestly becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time is a high bar to cross, but it’s safe to say that you should never count James Cameron out, though you can take bathroom breaks. Even when he makes three-hour-plus films that make you have to take a bathroom break, he’s one of the most bankable directors working in the industry today. There are people who will always show up for anything he makes, especially if it’s set in the world of Pandora.

Avatar 2 will see Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana return as Jake Sully and Neytiri as they’re now raising a family of their own, which through movie magic, will never have to take a bathroom break. The film also stars Jack Champion, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Lang, Bailey Bass, Edie Falco, and more. Cameron directs and co-writes the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.

We’ll just have to wait and see if Avatar 2 can surpass the high commercial success of its predecessor. If it does, you can count on Cameron making at least a few more Avatar films that will almost certainly have bathroom-break-worthy runtimes. We’ll be able to find out if the decade-long wait was worth it when the film hits theaters on December 16.