The Avatar hype has been building for a while now, what with the movie becoming the biggest box-office behemoth of all time and the news that there are going to be not just one but four sequels to the historic franchise. However, that’s further in the future – right now we’ve got the re-release to look forward to.
Speaking of which, 20th Century Studios announced a brand new trailer for the storied film, which is returning to theaters for a limited run. The original film was released in 2009 and told the story of the moon of Pandora, where the indigenous Na’vi get locked into a battle with human colonists.
The film will re-release “in 3D and all formats,” according to the studio. The trailer showcases actors Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, and Sigourney Weaver, and the effects look crisp and sharp.
James Cameron himself tweeted that “We remastered the movie and decided it deserved a new poster.”
The new poster features Saldaña’s face in character as Neytiri, and considering the movie came out 13 years ago, she looks great. The movie has been restored in 4K in high dynamic range, which in layman’s terms means it’s going to look better than the original did.
Avatar is a huge franchise for Disney, a company that acquired the property when it bought Fox. The company already illustrated its loyalty to the brand even before the purchase by building a huge Avatar-themed area at Animal Kingdom park at Florida’s Walt Disney World, so expect more merchandise leading up to the rerelease.
There’s going to be toys, tie ins, Legos, comic books and every other merchandise item possible, probably.
Avatar will return to theaters on Sept. 23. The sequel Avatar: The Way of Water hits theaters on Dec. 16.