Received

Sam Worthington has revealed some of the incredible physical challenges he endured filming the latest Avatar movie and opened up about one moment of terror.

But the Australian is not bothered by pressure for the science fiction sequel to live up to its record-breaking original.

"I don't think we approach it with that much hubris," he told AAP.

"We just try to tell a story that's expanded on the characters and we hope it connects."

The 46-year-old, whose career breakthrough came in the 2009 sci-fi epic, returns as Jake Sully as his family moves from the forest and battles to stay alive on the planet Pandora.

Avatar: The Way of Water is set more than a decade after the events of the first film, which grossed nearly US$3 billion globally and heralded a new era of 3D films and photorealistic computer-generated characters.

Director James Cameron has again blazed new technological trails, taking performance capture underwater to offer the most realistic movements to be expected of 10-foot blue alien creatures.

Acting underwater meant Worthington and his co-stars including Zoe Saldana and Kate Winslet had to master free diving.

Sigourney Weaver, who returns to the series as the biological daughter of her avatar that appeared brain-dead in the first film, was initially apprehensive.

But the now-73-year-old soon began spending up to six-and-a-half minutes below.

"Sigourney is part-fish; it's pretty incredible," Worthington said.

"These scenes are hard enough to do on dry land with all the distractions.

"They're emotionally resonate, very difficult - and we're crazy enough to try them underwater."

The Terminator Salvation and Fractured actor recalls a terrifying moment during a pivotal scene with Britain Dalton, who plays Sully's second-eldest son.

"Halfway through, I realised I'm 30 feet underwater, I'm running out of oxygen," he said.

"My brain starts wigging out, which means my heart rate starts increasing so my oxygen is depleting even more."

But Dalton's touch and look helped reset Worthington.

"(It) brought me back into the scene, which is about a father and son connecting," he said.

"(Filming underwater) wasn't just a gimmick; we're trying to take the most powerful scenes you can think of and put them deep-dive."

The new film is the first of four expected sequels. Filming has wrapped on the second while the first act has been shot on the third.

The Way of Water brings a return to 3D glasses and what director Cameron and producer Jon Landau hope is a fresh outlook on a trip to the cinema.

"I don't want them to say I saw a movie," Landau said.

"I want them to say I experienced a movie."

While plans for Avatar sequels were underway before Cameron's Mariana Trench expedition, that 2012 trip to the deepest part of the ocean helped inspire creatures now on screen.

Worthington said he received a call about that time from Cameron that the director felt like "going on more of a journey with Pandora".

That journey begins with the Sully family leaving the forest in search of a new sanctuary.

They find the reef clan of Metkayina - led by Ronal (Winslet) and her husband Tonowari (New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis) - and quickly find difficulty in no longer being top dogs.

"They and their children have to learn to leave this position and learn the way of water and learn how to get along in a totally different environment," Curtis told AAP.

While the Fear the Walking Dead and The Dark Horse star admits he couldn't match the lengthy underwater stints of Winslet and Weaver, Curtis appreciated the pared-back nature of performance capture.

"I've got no costume, I've got dots on my face, a helmet with a camera in front of my nose," he said.

"So, you can't hide behind anything.

"It's just you, Jim and the other actors."

Being a newcomer to the series, he also rejects comparisons to the first instalment.

"I don't see it as a sequel as replicating something that was successful," Curtis said.

"I see it as the next part of the journey."

Avatar: The Way of Water opens in cinemas on December 15.

© AAP 2022

NASA's Orion capsule has reached the moon, whipping around the far side and buzzing the lunar surface on its way to a record-breaking orbit with test dummies sitting in for astronauts.

It's the first time a capsule has visited the moon since NASA's Apollo program 50 years ago, and represents a huge milestone in the $US4.1 billion ($A6.2 billion) test flight that began on Wednesday.

Video of the looming lunar surface and our pale blue planet more than 370,000 kilometres in the distance left workers "giddy" at Houston's Johnson Space Center, home to Mission Control, according to flight director Judd Frieling.

Even the flight controllers themselves were "absolutely astounded".

"Just smiles across the board," said Orion program manager Howard Hu.

The close approach of 130km occurred as the crew capsule and its three wired-up dummies were on the far side of the moon.

Because of a 30-minute communication blackout, flight controllers in Houston did not know if the critical engine firing went well until the capsule emerged from behind the moon.

The capsule's cameras sent back a picture of Earth ... a tiny blue dot surrounded by blackness.

The capsule accelerated well beyond 8000km/h as it regained radio contact, NASA said.

Less than an hour later, Orion soared above Tranquility Base, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on July 20, 1969.

There were no photos of the site because the pass was in darkness, but managers promised to try for pictures on the return flyby in two weeks.

Orion needed to slingshot around the moon to pick up enough speed to enter the sweeping, lopsided lunar orbit.

Another engine firing will place the capsule in that orbit Friday.

This coming weekend, Orion will shatter NASA's distance record for a spacecraft designed for astronauts 402,336km from Earth, set by Apollo 13 in 1970.

And it will keep going, reaching a maximum distance from Earth next Monday at nearly 433,000km.

The capsule will spend close to a week in lunar orbit, before heading home.

A Pacific splashdown is planned for December 11.

Orion has no lunar lander. A touchdown won't come until NASA astronauts attempt a lunar landing in 2025 with SpaceX's Starship.

Before then, astronauts will strap into Orion for a ride around the moon as early as 2024.

Mission manager Mike Sarafin was delighted with the progress of the mission, giving it a "cautiously optimistic A-plus" so far.

The Space Launch System rocket, the most powerful ever built by NASA, performed exceedingly well in its debut, Sarafin told reporters.

He said teams are dealing with two issues that require workarounds - one involving the navigational star trackers, the other the power system.

The 98-metre rocket caused more damage than expected at the Kennedy Space Center launch pad.

The force from the four million kilograms of lift-off thrust was so great that it tore off the blast doors of the elevator, leaving it unusable.

Sarafin said the pad damage will be repaired in plenty of time before the next launch.

© AP 2022

Rapper Kanye West says he intends to run for president in the 2024 US presidential election.

The rapper said he is "working on the campaign" with right wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, according to a video published on Sunday by the celebrity gossip website X17.

"Thanks, I accept," Yiannopoulos says in the video when asked if that's an official announcement.

The Grammy-winning West, 45, ran as an independent candidate in the 2020 election, receiving about 70,000 votes across 12 states.

The rapper has been at the centre of controversy in recent weeks due to repeated antisemitic comments.

Instagram and Twitter temporarily restricted his accounts last month, while Adidas terminated its popular Yeezy collaboration of shoes and clothing.

© DPA 2022