The Weeknd has cryptically teased his involvement in the soundtrack of the highly-anticipated blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water.
Yesterday (December 4), The Weeknd took to Instagram to share a clip featuring the Avatar: The Way of Water’s logo and its December 16 premiere date.
The imagery is accompanied by a soundbite of a backing choir and includes a booming drumbeat. The singer paired the post with a caption relaying Avatar’s release date.
The sound is reminiscent of the James Horner score which soundtracked the first film, which premiered in 2009. Listen below.
Seemingly confirming the singer’s involvement in the sequel, the official Avatar Twitter page reposted the teaser with the caption: “Avatar x The Weeknd”. Later, the film’s producer Jon Landau shared an image of himself alongside The Weeknd, accompanied with the message “Welcome to the Avatar family.” While the posts all but confirm the Blinding Lights singer’s involvement in Avatar, the extent of The Weeknd’s contributions remains as-yet unknown.
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It comes as the buzz around Avatar: The Way of Water has reached a fever pitch ahead of its premiere this month. The film, which will arrive 13 years after the first installment, is the second of three future additions to the Avatar canon, all of which will be helmed by writer-director James Cameron. Industry experts estimated that the film’s budget required between $ 350 million to $ 400 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made.
As the Na’vi say, “Zola'u nìprrte' soaiane Avatar”… Welcome to the Avatar family. pic.twitter.com/yc9no1sJki
— Jon Landau (@jonlandau) December 4, 2022
#AvatarTheWayOfWater x @theweeknd https://t.co/WPCQkNx9XB pic.twitter.com/MRH6V6bWSv
— Avatar (@officialavatar) December 4, 2022
While Cameron has begun production on Avatar 3, he has flagged that he may not be as heavily involved in future installments, and that he may scrap the additional sequels should The Way of Water tank at the box office.
The Weeknd, meanwhile, has been touring his recent album Dawn FM this year, which saw him leave the stage mid-song at an LA show due to vocal damage.
Jim Carrey starred in a music video for The Weeknd’s Out of Time, a Dawn FM single that dropped in August of this year.
