News of the Week: James Cameron Explains 13-Year Avatar 2 Gap

We’re into December, which means end-of-year holidays are just around the corner. The weather has grown colder and holiday decorations are out as Hollywood gears up for the big holiday movie season. This week brings news of Ghostbusters riding again, Bong Joon Ho’s next movie, James Cameron giving a surprising explanation, and more.

As always, Atom Insider brings you a few hand-picked stories we think you’ll like. Ready? Let’s dive in.

‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2’ Is A Go – But With A New Director

After the rather successful legacy sequel of the Ghostbusters franchise with 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a sequel to the movie is finally a go. This time, however, Sony Pictures has tapped a new face for behind the camera: Deadline broke the news that Gil Kenan, writer and co-producer of Afterlife, will be taking over as director. He replaces Jason Reitman, who directed Afterlife and continued the legacy of his father, franchise creator Ivan Reitman. Reitman will move into a writer-producer role, penning the script alongside Kenan and Jason Blumenthal. Reportedly, the entire cast of Ghostbusters: Afterlife will return for the sequel, which is rumored to be heading back to New York City. Kenan released a statement expressing his excitement at the opportunity, saying

“It’s an absolute honor to pick up the proton pack and step behind the camera for the next chapter of the Spengler family saga. I just wish I could go back to 1984 and tell the kid in the sixth row of the Mann Valley West that one day he was going to get to direct a Ghostbusters film.”

Bong Joon Ho’s New Movie ‘Mickey 17’ Releases First Look, Gets Release Date

After his phenomenal global hit Parasite, Oscar-winner Bong Joon Ho has been relatively quiet. But we recently got an exciting update for his upcoming movie, Mickey 17. It’s been revealed that the movie will be hitting theaters on March 29, 2024. The project is currently shooting off a script based on the book Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton. Bong has assembled an all-star cast for the movie with Robert Pattinson in the titular role, alongside Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo. Though it’s likely that Bong’s adaptation will differ from the book, the novel’s story follows Mickey 7, known as an “Expendable,” a disposable member of a human expedition sent to colonize the ice planet of Niflheim. Mickey is sent on all the suicide missions, and when one version dies, another is regenerated with most of his memories intact. By the time he gets to the seventh iteration, Mickey understands his role, and exactly what it’s asking of him.

Along with a release date, we got our first look at Mickey 17, as well. Check it out:

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Star Ke Huy Quan On Getting A Second Chance

It’s fair to say Ke Huy Quan has been having himself a hell of a year. After breaking out as a child actor in the ’80s with blockbuster hits Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, opportunities for the Vietnamese-American actor were few and far between. So Quan stepped back from the spotlight and decided to focus on behind-the-camera work as a stunt coordinator and that’s where he stayed for decades.

But the past year has proven to be a second coming-out and renaissance for Kwan. His career surged with his co-starring role as Waymond in Everything Everywhere All At Once, which has recently garnered him a number of nominations and wins for Best Supporting Actor in smaller awards shows, indicating that he may very well be in the running for an Oscar. Shortly after that star turn, he was cast in Loki season 2, officially joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He also has a secret project with the Russo Bros. coming up, and is reteaming with EEAAO co-star Michelle Yeoh for American Born Chinese. Right now, he’s doing the interview and press rounds, building off the buzz of his wins and the excitement he feels about returning to acting. He recently sat down with Deadline and the whole interview is worth a read, but one bit stood out. When asked about what life has been like since Everything Everywhere hit theaters, he admitted how emotional it’s been:

“It’s been incredible. I’ve been overwhelmed with emotions since our movie came out. In fact, every time I do an interview, I get emotional and my wife says, ‘Ke, can you not cry anymore?’ I tell myself every time before I do an interview, I say, ‘Don’t cry, don’t cry.’ But I’m so grateful for everything that’s happened since this film came out. In the past, people recognized me and they go, ‘Oh hey, are you the kid from Indiana Jones And the Temple Of Doom? Or are you the kid from The Goonies?’ It’s wonderful, I’m so grateful for those two movies and it’s changed my life.”

We can only hope he continues to bless us with more work on the screen.

James Cameron Explains Why ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ Took So Long To Come To Screens

It’s been 13 years since Avatar first hit theaters, so you’d be forgiven for wondering why it’s taken so long for the sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, to come to light. Everyone knows that one of the reasons is that the technology that the famously technologically demanding James Cameron wanted for the sequel simply didn’t exist yet for what he wanted to achieve with the underwater setting of the second movie. But, speaking of that underwater setting, it actually ties into a more surprising reason the movie has taken so long. On the red carpet for the premiere of Avatar: The Way of Water, Cameron explained it was his own passion for exploring the ocean that set him back for almost a decade and a half, along with wanting to get the scripts done in one go:

“First of all, I was doing deep ocean expeditions for a few years. Then we got serious about doing Avatar, we wrote four scripts — that took a couple of years. What we’re trying to do is kind of front-load the whole process so that we can drop them into the marketplace a couple of years apart so that once we’re back, we’re back to stay.”

For those unfamiliar with Cameron’s love of the ocean, just know that he comes by it honestly. It’s not something he merely dabbles in; he’s almost as accomplished in science exploration as he is in filmmaking. He’s a member of the NASA Advisory Council and helped the agency design and built the cameras for Mars rover Curiosity. He’s a National Geographic explorer-in-residence. In the Deepsea Challenger submersible, Cameron traveled five miles under the ocean to the New Britain Trench, and a few weeks later, made it to the Challenger Deep, the deepest known part of the Mariana Trench, which itself is the deepest known part of the ocean. The last feat is even more impressive considering he was the first human being to manage hitting the Challenger Deep on a solo mission. During his exploration of the trench, he actually discovered three new species of deep-sea organisms. With those and other scientific advancements, Cameron has established real bona fides in science and technology. Considering his accomplishments and his discovery of those new species, one could argue waiting 13 years for Avatar 2 was worth it.