Where is Avatar: The Way of Water Filmed?

Avatar: The Way of Water, the sequel to the highest-grossing films of all time, is on its way with less than a month to go. With the high praise the first one received, The Way of Water has a lot to live up to when it comes to creating the spectacular universe fans have come to love. The trailers look like the movie will be CGI heavy for the environment, but some fans might wonder where exactly the movie is filmed. This article will cover everything we know about the locations the cast and crew journeyed to create what looks like a fantastic sequel.

Filming Locations for Avatar: Way of Water

Director James Cameron took his crew to various locations to create the long 3-hour and 10-minute movie.

Water Scenes

According to fiction horizon, the shooting started way back in 2017 for the water scenes. Some scenes were filmed in smaller water tanks and soon moved onto more giant tanks with upwards of 900,000 gallons of water. It only makes sense, considering most of the trailer has featured water-heavy scenes, and the title even has the word water in it.

MBS Media Campus

MBS Media Campus, located in Manhattan Beach, California, is the primary spot where most of the film was shot. Even though the production location was built over 20 years ago, MBS Media Campus is still considered one of the most advanced and largest studios for filmmaking. Fiction Horizon goes further on its website, stating that the location boasts over 385,000 square feet. That number alone shows that James Cameron had much room to work with in creating the highly anticipated sequel.

Wellington, New Zealand

Avatar: The Way of Water owes a lot of its work to the beautiful land of New Zealand. Announced almost six years ago, Way of Water created a new motion capture system to help bring to life the world of the sequel. Weta Digital, a company based in Miramar, Wellington, had a massive hand in creating the new motion capture system. Fans have a lot to thank them for regarding the impressive CGI that has helped make the movie that takes place in the future.

Avatar: The Way of Water is looking to improve on the original in every way. James Cameron has put so much into this movie, and with hopes so high, fans are already excited for the third Avatar, which will surely be another impressive accomplishment.

Avatar: The Way of Water will release worldwide exclusively in theaters on December 16, 2022.