The Weeknd teases new single from 'Avatar: The Way of Water'

Next week, many of us will be heading to theaters to see Avatar: The Way of Water, the sequel to the wildly successful 2009 movie Avatar. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, and more are returning to their original roles, while the likes of Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, and Edie Falco will appear as new characters.

This past Sunday (Dec. 4), The Weeknd took to social media to tease new music for the film, leading many to believe that he’ll be providing the official theme song — much in the same way that Rihanna did for last month’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The Canadian star’s involvement was further confirmed by Avatar’s official Twitter page and producer Jon Landau, who posted an image of himself and The Weeknd with a message in the film’s fictional language:

“As the Na’vi say, ‘Zola’u nìprrte’ soaiane Avatar‘… Welcome to the Avatar family.”

During its theatrical run, Avatar shattered several records and became the highest-grossing film of all time (it was temporarily overtaken by 2019’s Avengers: Endgame). The science fiction epic was also nominated for nine Academy Awards, ultimately winning three for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects.

Back in January, The Weeknd liberated his fifth studio LP, Dawn FM, a 16-song body of work with additional features from Tyler, The Creator and Lil Wayne. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 148,000 first-week album-equivalent units sold, becoming the “Out of Time” singer’s eighth top 10 entry on the chart. Since then, he’s continued his momentum with an Alternate World version of Dawn FM, which added on eight additional tracks and collaborations alongside Summer Walker, Swedish House Mafia, Oneohtrix Point Never, KAYTRANADA, and Mike Dean. Last Friday (Dec. 2), he provided an assist for Metro Boomin’s new album, HEROES & VILLAINS, contributing to the standout cut “Creepin’.” Check out the aforementioned tweets below.