Avatar: The Way Of Water Scores A Record-Breaking 14 Awards Nominations From The Visual Effects Society

"Avatar: The Way of Water" is close to a worldwide box office total of $2 billion dollars, according to Box Office Mojo at the time of this writing. The further adventures of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and the family they've created on Pandora have captured moviegoers' imaginations. It sounds like we'll be getting the promised sequels from director James Cameron. Whatever you think of the story and the high frame rate, which I personally found incredibly distracting, it's tough to deny that the visual effects in this film are groundbreaking and spectacular. 

The first film really drove home the fact that 3D wasn't dead, and this one did the same, despite some pronounced stick-poking-style effects in the beginning and nausea-inducing moments early on. It's shockingly easy to forget that the creatures we're watching on screen aren't really there and that the actors just don't look like that. Though I thought using Sigourney Weaver as a teenager didn't work very well in the acting sense, the fact that it could be done visually at all is still impressive. 

It should be no surprise to anyone to hear that "Avatar: The Way of Water" has nabbed a record 14 nominations for the 2023 Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards, according to Deadline. 

Here is the complete list of VES Awards nominees for 2023:

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

"Avatar: The Way of Water"

Richard Baneham

Walter Garcia

Joe Letteri

Eric Saindon

JD Schwalm

"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore"

Christian Mänz

Olly Young

Benjamin Loch

Stephane Naze

Alistair Williams

"Jurassic World: Dominion"

David Vickery

Ann Podlozny

Jance Rubinchik

Dan Snape

Paul Corbould

"The Batman"

Dan Lemmon

Bryan Searing

Russell Earl

Anders Langlands

Dominic Tuohy

"Top Gun: Maverick"

Ryan Tudhope

Paul Molles

Seth Hill

Bryan Litson

Scott Fisher

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

"Death on the Nile"

George Murphy

Claudia Dehmel

Mathieu Raynault

Jonathan Bowen

David Watkins

"I Wanna Dance With Somebody"

Paul Norris

Tim Field

Don Libby

Andrew Simmonds

"The Fabelmans"

Pablo Helman

Jennifer Mizener

Cernogorods Aleksei

Jeff Kalmus

Mark Hawker

"The Gray Man"

Swen Gilberg

Viet Luu

Bryan Grill

Cliff Welsh

Michael Meinardus

"The Pale Blue Eye"

Jake Braver

Catherine Farrell

Tim Van Horn

Scott Pritchard

Jeremy Hays

"Thirteen Lives"

Jason Billington

Thomas Horton

Denis Baudin

Michael Harrison

Brian Cox

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio"

Aaron Weintraub

Jeffrey Schaper

Cameron Carson

Emma Gorbey

"Mad God"

Chris Morley

Phil Tippett

Ken Rogerson

Tom Gibbons

"Strange World"

Steve Goldberg

Laurie Au

Mark Hammel

Mehrdad Isvandi

"The Bad Guys"

Pierre Perifel

Damon Ross

Matt Baer

JP Sans

"The Sea Beast"

Joshua Beveridge

Christian Hejnal

Stirling Duguid

Spencer Lueders

"Turning Red"

Domee Shi

Lindsey Collins

Danielle Feinberg

Dave Hale

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

"House of the Dragon;" "The Black Queen"

Angus Bickerton

Nikeah Forde

Sven Martin

Michael Bell

Michael Dawson

"Prehistoric Planet;" "Ice Worlds"

Lindsay McFarlane

Fay Hancocks

Elliot Newman

Kirstin Hall

"Stranger Things 4;" "The Piggyback"

Jabbar Raisani

Terron Pratt

Niklas Jacobson

Justin Mitchell

Richard E. Perry

"The Boys;" "Payback"

Stephan Fleet

Shalena Oxley-Butler

Tristan Zerafa

Anthony Paterson

Hudson Kenny

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power;" "Udûn"

Jason Smith

Ron Ames

Nigel Sumner

Tom Proctor

Dean Clarke

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

"Five Days at Memorial;" "Day Two"

Eric Durst

Danny McNair

Matt Whelan

Goran Pavles

John MacGillivray

"See;" "I See You"

Chris Wright

Parker Chehak

Tristan Zerafa

Oscar Perea

Tony Kenny

"Severance;" "Pilot"

Vadim Turchin

Nicole Melius

David Piombino

David Rouxel

"The Old Man;" "Episode III"

Erik Henry

Matt Robken

Jamie Klein

Sylvain Théroux

J.D. Streett

"Vikings: Valhalla;" "The Bridge"

Ben Mossman

Melanie Callaghan

Matt Schofield

Chris Cooper

Paul Byrne

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT

"God of War: Ragnarok"

Christopher Lloyd

Carrie Watts

James Adkins

Kevin Huynh

"Gotham Knights"

Jay Evans

Bryan Theberge

Mathieu Houle

Alexandre Bélanger

"Supermassive Games;" "The Quarry"

Aruna Inversin

Paul Pianezza

Kevin Williams

Kimberly Cheifer

"The Callisto Protocol"

Glen Schofield

Steve Papoutsis

Chris Stone

Demetrius Leal

"The Last of Us Part I"

Erick Pangilinan

Evan Wells

Eben Cook

Mary Jane Whiting

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL

"B&Q;" "Flip"

Patrick Krafft

Holly Treacy

Alex Snookes

"Frito-Lay;" "Push It"

Tom Raynor

Sophie Harrison

Ben Cronin

Martino Madeddu

"Ladbrokes;" "Rocky"

Greg Spencer

Alex Fitzgerald

Mickey O'Donoghue

Adame Boutrif

"Minions: The Rise of Gru"

Gerome Viavant

Gilles de Lusignan

Benjamin Le Ster

"Virgin Media;" "Highland Rider"

Amir Bazzazi

George Reid

Sebastian Caldwell

Alex Kulikov

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT

"ABBA: Voyage"

Ben Morris

Edward Randolph

Stephen Aplin

Ian Comley

"Avengers: Quantum Encounter"

Alan Woods

Bernice Howes

Scott Sohan

Jason Fox

"Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind"

Christopher Smith

Meghan Short

William George

Jon Alexander

"Jumanji: The Adventure"

Martin Cutbill

Liam Thompson

Baptiste Roy

Marco Parenzi

"Star Wars: Galactic Star Cruiser"

Rob Blue

Patrick Kearney

Khatsho Orfali

Gabe Sabourin

Daniel Joseph

"Stranger Things: The Experience"

Javier Roca

Antoine Sitruk

Cale Jacox

Julien Forest

Camille Michaud

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" Kiri

Anneka Fris

Rebecca Louise Leybourne

Guillaume Francois

Jung-Rock Hwang

"Beast;" Lion

Alvise Avati

Bora Şahin

Chris McGaw

Krzysztof Boyoko

"Disney's Pinocchio;" Honest John

Christophe Paradis

Valentina Rosselli

Armita Khanlarpour

Kyoungmin Kim

"Slumberland;" Pig

Fernando Lopes Herrera

Victor Dinis

Martine Chartrand

Lucie Martinetto

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio;" Geppetto

Charles Greenfield

Peter Saunders

Shami Lang-Rinderspacher

Noel Estevez-Baker

"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio;" Pinocchio

Oliver Beale

Richard Pickersgill

Brian Leif Hansen

Kim Slate

"Strange World;" Splat

Leticia Gillett

Cameron Black

Dan Lipson

Louis Jones

"Turning Red;" Panda Mei

Christopher Bolwyn

Ethan Dean

Bill Sheffler

Kureha Yokoo

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

"She-Hulk: Attorney at Law;" She-Hulk

Elizabeth Bernard

Jan Philip Cramer

Edwina Ting

Andrew Park

"Skull & Bones;" Sam

Jonas Skoog

Jonas Törnqvist

Goran Milic

Jonas Vikström

"The Callisto Protocol;" Jacob Lee

Martin Contel

Glauco Longhi

Jorge Jimenez

Atsushi Seo

"The Umbrella Academy;" Pogo

AIdan Martin

Hannah Dockerty

Olivier Beierlein

Miae Kang

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" Metkayina Village

Ryan Arcus

Lisa Hardisty

Paul Harris

TaeHyoung David Kim

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" The Reef

Jessica Cowley

Joe W. Churchill

Justin Stockton

Alex Nowotny

"Jurassic World Dominion;" Biosyn Valley

Steve Ellis

Steve Hardy

Thomas Dohlen

John Seru

"Slumberland;" The Wondrous Cuban Hotel Dream

Daniël Dimitri Veder

Marc Austin

Pavan Rajesh Uppu

Casey Gorton

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio;" In the Stomach of a Sea Monster

Warren Lawtey

Anjum Sakharkar

Javier Gonzalez Alonso

Quinn Carvalho

"Lightyear;" T'Kani Prime Forest

Lenora Acidera

Amy Allen

Alyssa Minko

Jose L. Ramos Serrano

"Strange World;" The Windy Jungle

Ki Jong Hong

Ryan Smith

Jesse Erickson

Benjamin Fiske

"The Sea Beast;" The Hunting Ship

Yohan Bang

Enoch Ihde

Denil George Chundangal

John Wallace

"Wendell & Wild;" The Scream Fair

Tom Proost

Nicholas Blake

Colin Babcock

Matthew Paul Albertus Cross

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

"Andor;" "Reckoning;" Ferrix

Pedro Santos

Chris Ford

Jeff Carson-Bartzis

Alex Murtaza

"The Book of Boba Fett;" "In the Name of Honor;" Mos Espa

Daniel Schmid Leal

Phi Tran

Hasan Ilhan

Steve Wang

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power;" "Adar;" Númenor City

Dan Wheaton

Nico Delbecq

Dan LeTarte

Julien Gauthier

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power;" "Adrift;" Khazud Dûm

James Ogle

Péter Bujdosó

Lon Krung

Shweta Bhatnagar

OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A CG PROJECT

"ABBA: Voyage"

Pär M. Ekberg

John Galloway

Paolo Acri

Jose Burgos

"Avatar: The Way of Water"

Richard Baneham

Dan Cox

Eric Reynolds

A.J Briones

"Prehistoric Planet"

Daniel Fotheringham

Krzysztof Szczepanski

Wei-Chuan Hsu

Claire Hill

"The Batman;" Rain Soaked Car Chase

Dennis Yoo

Michael J. Hall

Jason Desjarlais

Ben Bigiel

OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" The Sea Dragon

Sam Sharplin

Stephan Skorepa

Ian Baker

Guillaume Francois

"The Sea Beast"

Maxx Okazaki

Susan Kornfeld

Edward Lee

Doug Smith

"Top Gun: Maverick;" F-14 Tomcat

Christian Peck

Klaudio Ladavac

Aram Jung

Peter Dominik

"Wendell & Wild" Dream Faire

Peter Dahmen

Paul Harrod

Nicholas Blake

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" Fire and Destruction

Miguel Perez Senent

Xavier Martin Ramirez

David Kirchner

Ole Geir Eidsheim

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" Water Simulations

Johnathan M. Nixon

David Moraton

Nicolas Illingworth

David Caeiro Cebrian

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever;" City Street Flooding

Matthew Hanger

Alexis Hall

Hang Yang

Mikel Zuloaga

"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore"

Jesse Parker Holmes

Grayden Solman

Toyokazu Hirai

Rob Richardson

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

"Lightyear"

Alexis Angelidis

Chris Chapman

Jung-Hyun Kim

Keith Klohn

"Puss in Boots: The Last Wish"

Derek Cheung

Michael Losure

Kiem Ching Ong

Jinguang Huang

"Strange World"

Deborah Carlson

Scott Townsend

Stuart Griese

Yasser Hamed

"The Sea Beast"

Spencer Lueders

Dmitriy Kolesnik

Brian D. Casper

Joe Eckroat

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

"Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities;" Graveyard Rats

Amit Khanna

Oleg Memukhin

Mario Marengo

Josh George

"Stranger Things 4;" Hawkins Destructive Fissures

Ahmad Ghourab

Gavin Templer

Rachel Ajorque

Eri Ohno

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power;" "Udûn;" Volcano Destruction

Kurt Debens

Hamish Bell

Robert Kelly

Gabriel Roccisano

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power;" "Udûn;" Water and Magma

Rick Hankins

Aron Bonar

Branko Grujcic

Laurent Kermel

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" Landing Rockets Forest Destruction

Miguel Santana Da Silva

Hongfei Geng

Jonathan Moulin

Maria Corcho

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" Water Integration

Sam Cole

Francois Sugny

Florian Schroeder

Jean Matthews

"The Batman;" Rainy Freeway Chase

Beck Veitch

Stephen Tong

Eva Snyder

Rachel E. Herbert

"Top Gun: Maverick"

Saul Davide Galbiati

Jean-Frederic Veilleux

Felix B. Lafontaine

Cynthia Rodriguez del Castillo

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE

"House of the Dragon;" "The Black Queen;" Dance of Dragons

Kevin Friederichs

Sean Raffel

Florian Franke

Andreas Steinlein

"Love, Death and Robots;" "Night of the Mini Dead"

Tim Emeis

José Maximiano

Renaud Tissandié

Nacere Guerouaf

"The Book of Boba Fett;" "From the Desert Comes a Stranger;" Luke Alike

Peter Demarest

Tami Carter

Brandon McNaughton

Sirak Ghebremusse

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power;" "Udûn;" Tirharad Cavalry Charge

Sornalingam P

Ian Copeland

Nessa Mingfang Zhang

Yuvaraj S

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL

"Cartier;" "Tank"

Stephane Pivron

Mathias Barday

Valentin Lesueur

Eric Lemains

"Ladbrokes;" "Rocky"

Greg Spencer

Theajo Dharan

Georgina Ford

Jonathan Westley

"Samsung;" "Playtime is Over"

Damien Canameras

Guillaume Dadaglio

Sébastien Podsiadlo

Christophe Plouvier

"Samsung;" "The Spider and the Window"

Marta Carbonell Amela

Stefan Susemihl

Lonni Wong

Jiyoung Lee

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" Current Machine and Wave Pool

JD Schwalm

Richie Schwalm

Nick Rand

Robert Spurlock

"Black Adam;" Robotic Flight

JD Schwalm

Nick Rand

Andrew Hyde

Andy Robot

"Mad God"

Phil Tippett

Chris Morley

Webster Colcord

Johnny McLeod

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power;" "Adrift;" Middle Earth Storm

Dean Clarke

Oliver Gee

Eliot Naimie

Mark Robson

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT (AWARD SPONSORED BY AUTODESK)

"A Calling. From the Desert to the Sea"

Mario Bertsch

Max Pollmann

Lukas Löffler

Till Sander-Titgemeyer

"Boom"

Romain Augier

Charles Di Cicco

Gabriel Augerai

Laurie Pereira De Figueiredo

"Macula"

Hady Abou Ghazale

Lothaire Rialhe

Marta Rodriguez-Noriega Nava

Jules Machicot

"Maronii"

Maxime Guitet

Dimitri Allonneau

Lucas Plata

Ngoc Mai Nguyen

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" Depth Comp

Dejan Momcilovic

Tobias B. Schmidt

Benny Edlund

Joshua Hardgrave

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" Facial System

Byungkuk Choi

Stephen Cullingford

Stuart Adcock

Marco Revelant

"Avatar: The Way of Water;" Water Toolset

Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin

Steve Lesser

Sven Joel Wretborn

Douglas McHale

"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio;" 3D Printed Metal Armature

Richard Pickersgill

Glen Southern

Peter Saunders

Brian Leif Hansen

"Turning Red;" Profile Mover and CurveNets

Kurt Fleischer

Fernando de Goes

Bill Sheffler

We'll learn the winners of the 21st annual VES Awards on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.