James Cameron Explains Avatar 2's Three-Hour Runtime: "We Didn't Spend That Much Time On Emotion" In The First Movie

"Avatar: The Way of the Water" should last about three hours and 10 minutes, or about 30 minutes longer than the already long original "Avatar" in 2009. James Cameron said his sequel "Avatar" is much longer because there is an increased focus on "relationship and emotion" compared to the first movie.

"The goal is to tell an extremely compelling story on an emotional basis," Cameron said. "I would say the focus in the new movie is more on the character, more on the story, more on the relationships, more on the emotion. We haven't spent as much time on the relationships and the emotions in the first movie than in the second movie, and it's a longer movie, because there are more characters to serve. There's more story to serve."

Not only do protagonists Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) return in the sequel, but both characters also now have children (one of whom is played by Sigourney Weaver) who are the main characters.

"People say, 'Oh my God, a Disney family story? Just what we want… "It's not that kind of family thing," Cameron added. "It's a family story like the way 'The Sopranos' is a family story."

In an interview with Empire magazine this summer, Cameron confirmed that "Avatar: The Way of 'water' was "currently arriving in about three hours" and told moviegoers he was not interested in hearing their complaints.

"I don't want anyone complaining about the length when they sit and watch [ television] for eight hours," Cameron said. "I can almost write that part of the review. 'The horribly long three-hour movie…' It's like, give me a fucking break. I saw my kids sit down and do five hour-long episodes in a row. Here's the big social paradigm shift that needs to happen: It's okay to get up and go pee."

Avatar: The Waterway opens nationwide on December 16.

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