Update, November 21: After a brief, cerulean-hued run in theaters, James Cameron’s Avatar has returned to its rightful place on the feeds of Disney+. There, you can watch or rewatch it to your heart’s content ahead of The Way of Water’s December 16 release.
Original story from September 6 follows.
Before you Avatar Heads (Avatarians? Papyrus stans?) get heated over Avatar’s removal from Disney+, let’s clear up a few things. Is this an HBO Max thing? No. It’s a different kind of strategic marketing (and money) move. Announced earlier today, Disney is sending James Cameron’s megahit Avatar back to theaters, again, for a two-week limited run on September 23. The film will be run with a new 4K restoration, giving you a crystal clear image of all the tail-touching, banshee-riding, floating-mountain action. If only these theaters could pump in the smell from Pandora Land’s Flight of Passage and Na’vi River Journey in Walt Disney World. Now, THAT would be something! But if you were looking to watch Avatar at home, Disney+ confirmed that the film will only be off the streamer for a “short period of time while the film is rereleased in theaters.†The film will be back on Disney+ sometime before December 16 — ahead of the much-anticipated theatrical release of Cameron’s sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.