CAN JAMES CAMERON AND 'AVATAR' WOW AGAIN? DON'T DOUBT IT.

James Cameron has been living on Pandora for a long time.

But 13 years after the original "Avatar" and five years after starting production on its sequel, "The Way of Water, Cameron is unveiling the long-awaited follow-up to the highest-grossing film of all time. Speaking the day after "The Way of Water" debuted in London, Cameron - back on Earth and self-admittedly out of practice with the hoopla of a red-carpet premiere describes the experience of finally having the movie out in the world "surreal."

“You work on these films kind of in a bubble. You create this world around you with your artists, with your casts and so on,” Cameron says. “Then one day you realize, ‘Oh crap, we’re going to have to show this to people at some point.’”

For a long time, the “Avatar” sequel was the “Waiting for Godot” of blockbusters – more theoretical than real, with release dates that kept spiraling into the future. Meanwhile, an unending parade of pieces pondered the original’s curious place in entertainment: a box-office behemoth with little cultural footprint, a $3 billion ghost.

But the first look at Cameron’s “Avatar” sequel has thrown some cold water on that notion. The overwhelming reaction to the director’s latest three-hour opus? Never bet against James Cameron.