Avatar 2’s Terrifyingly Claustrophobic Flood Rig Revealed in BTS Video

A new behind-the-scenes video from Avatar: The Way of Water reveals how a claustrophobic flooding submarine rig was used during filming on the sequel.

Much of Avatar: The Way of Water was CGI, but a new behind-the-scenes video shows that a practical (and terrifyingly claustrophobic) flooding submarine rig was used for certain scenes. Serving as a sequel to his 2009 original hit, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water sees the Sully family take refuge with a new ocean-dwelling clan of Na’vi called the Metkayina. While their new home affords them brief safety from the returning human invaders, it isn’t long until Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and the RDA find the Sullys and unleash an arsenal of new equipment to take them out.

Second Unit Director Garrett Warren has released a new behind-the-scenes video from Avatar: The Way of Water, showing how one particularly intense submarine sequence from the film was pulled off.

The scene in question features a sub, called a Mako submersible, being smashed into some rocks upon which it fills with water while the pilots attempt to escape. The scene in the film is especially claustrophobic, with water quickly filling the vehicle while the humans panic and attempt to escape. Thankfully, Warren’s latest video and caption affirm that numerous safety measures were in place for the stunt performers inside.

Related: Can Any 2023 Movies Compete With Avatar: The Way Of Water’s Box Office?

Avatar 3’s Story Details Mean A Whole New Set Of Filmmaking Challenges

As with the first movie, making Avatar: The Way of Water essentially involved creating new filmmaking tools in order to tell the story. The sequel features underwater performance capture and huge leaps forward in terms of CGI, with challenging and potentially dangerous practical effects also evidently playing a role. Avatar 3, however, which has already been filmed, is set to introduce a number of new challenges for Cameron and the film’s visual effects team to overcome.

Avatar 3 is expected to introduce a new volcano-based, fire-worshipping clan of Na’vi called the Ash People, led by a new character played by Oona Chaplin. As with CGI water, creating realistic CGI fire has traditionally proven to be quite a challenge, with the end result often looking very noticeably fake. With volcanoes, fire, and presumably some magma playing a large role in Avatar 3‘s story, the visual effects team evidently has their work cut out for them.

While the CGI challenges alone will be a big enough hurdle for Avatar 3 to overcome, it’s unclear what practical elements were filmed for the upcoming sequel and whether any real fire was involved. It’s currently unclear what Avatar 4 will be about, but it seems likely that it will also push the envelope in some new and exciting ways. Although Avatar: The Way of Water may have been a bit of a gamble, it showed loud and clear that Cameron and the rest of the creative team behind the movie will continue to operate on the cutting edge of filmmaking innovation.

More: Spider Is More Important To Avatar’s Next 3 Movies Than You Think

Source: Garrett Warren