Avatar: The Way of Water is about three hours and 10 minutes long, almost 30 minutes longer than the original 2009 film Avatar, which lasted two hours and 45 minutes.
James Cameron as the director certainly has the intention behind it. He acknowledged that the Avatar sequels ran longer because there was an increased focus on "relationships and emotions" compared to the first film.
The Canadian director also said that the reason for the longer sequel duration was because there were more characters to serve and more stories to tell.
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This is because not only are protagonists Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) returning for the sequel, but the two characters also now have children -- one of whom is played by Sigourney Weaver -- as main characters.
However, Cameron said that Jake's family in this film is not like a Disney-style family story.
"This is a family story like how 'The Sopranos' is a family story," he concluded.