It was just over a year ago that Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron announced a massive expansion of the world of Avatar with not one, not two, but three sequels that would be developed and filmed simultaneously and released annually starting in 2016. Since then we’ve had a few updates including returning cast members and a time table for the production, and even though we’re still over two years from the release of the first film, director James Cameron has come forward to hype them up a little more.
“There’s nothing I need to say as an artist about the state of the world and human affairs that I can’t do through the lens of the ‘Avatar’ universe,” he tells Variety. “We’ve had a couple of years to think through the story arc of the next three films, and every day that goes by, I believe in the stories I’m telling more and more. We’re not coming out of the block fast to capitalize on the last film.”
Set to feature the return of cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver, Avatar 2 is scheduled for a December 2016 release, which will be followed by Avatar 3 in December of 2017 and Avatar 4 in 2018. The original film remains the top grossing movie of all time with $2.782 billion at the worldwide box office.
Avatar 2, 3, and 4 will be produced by Cameron and Jon Landau through their Lightstorm Entertainment. The sequels are currently being written by Cameron along with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, and Shane Salerno.
