Avatar, now pulled from Disney Plus, will return to theaters in 4K HDR this September

Good news, Na’vi nation: James Cameron’s Avatar is returning to movie theaters on Sept. 23 with a new 4K High Dynamic Range presentation, just in time for the release of the film’s long-awaited sequel, The Way of Water Avatar. Here’s the kicker though: In order to drum up anticipation for the rerelease, the original AvatarThis has been temporarily removed from Disney Plus

This is not a surprising or unusual turn of events. After all, it was just earlier this year that Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather trilogy was removed from Paramount Plus prior to the 50th anniversary theatrical run of the 4K restoration of the films before being re-added to the streaming service. Variety has similar information. Avatar will return to Disney Plus at an “unspecified time” before The Way of Water Avatar’s release on Dec. 16.

Avatar — not to be confused with Avatar for The Last Airbender — stars Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, a disabled marine from 22nd century Earth who journeys to the fictional moon of Pandora as part of a military operation. Melding his mind with a genetically engineered body patterned after the moon’s native Na’vi species, Jake meets and falls in love with Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), a member of the Na’vi before rebelling against the human forces to protect his adopted home.

This film was made more than 10 years after the events in the original. The Way of Water Avatar will tell the story of Jake and Neytiri’s family as they fight to survive following the return of the humans to Pandora. The sequel features both Sigourney Weaver (returning cast member) and Giovanni Ribisi (new characters: Kate Winslet and Michelle Yeoh). It will also feature scenes underwater that Cameron took extreme measures to film using motion capture technology.