James Cameron’s Avatar The Way of Water saw its official trailer release this week. The much-anticipated film is hitting the screens later this year and the studio is sparing no expense in making it one of the widest releases in cinema history ever. Well, almost no expense it seems. As many Indian fans noted that the official trailer of the film had Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam versions but not a Kannada one. The poster also doesn’t mention a Kannada release, something which has fans all riled up. Also read: Avatar: The Way of Water trailer: James Cameron shows what true CGI marvel is
When the film’s official teaser was released a few months ago, there was a Kannada version along with the Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu-dubbed ones. But now, even that teaser seems to have been taken down, as pointed out by some fans on Twitter. Interestingly, #Avatar2inKannada was trending on Twitter all through Thursday as fans expressed their displeasure about the film’s apparent non-release in the language. One fan wrote, “Avatar 2 Kannada trailer is not released and also I can't find the Avatar 2 Kannada teaser which was released 5 months back. Did they delete it? They have removed Kannada from the YT image.” Another fan tweeted, “If true this is disrespectful and unfair to millions of fans.”
Many fans pointed out that this move, if indeed true, did not make sense as Kannada-dubbed versions of other Indian and Hollywood films have done well in the state in recent years. “Just check RRR Bookmyshow data, you will get the business opportunity in dubbing into Kannada.Just look at the percentage of Kannada impressions on the internet, it will give an idea about the market,” read one tweet.
{{/usCountry}}Many fans pointed out that this move, if indeed true, did not make sense as Kannada-dubbed versions of other Indian and Hollywood films have done well in the state in recent years. “Just check RRR Bookmyshow data, you will get the business opportunity in dubbing into Kannada.Just look at the percentage of Kannada impressions on the internet, it will give an idea about the market,” read one tweet.
{{/usCountry}}Many began to tag 20th Century Fox, the studio backing the film, as well as director James Cameron and the film’s official Twitter handle in their complaints. One fan wrote, “I am actually quite disappointed that a studio house like @20thcentury has succumbed to the flawed suggestions of unscrupulous elements and stopped @officialavatar in Kannada.” Another lamented, “It’s a shame that we Kannadigas have to literally run from pillar to post to get something that other linguistic communities readily get.”
There has been no official word from the makers of Avatar The Way of Water on whether the film is releasing in Kannada or not so far. The James Cameron film is the sequel to the 2009 blockbuster Avatar, which is the highest-grossing film in history. The second part--of a planned five-part series--releases globally on December 16.