To say that Avatar 2 and its many, many sequels have been a long time coming may read as a colossal understatement, but given James Cameron’s extensive plans for the franchise moving forward, it won’t be much longer before moviegoers find themselves inundated with all things Pandora.
After shuffling around the proverbial slate, the first follow-up has been tentatively slated for Christmas of 2018, though that may well change to prevent a potential box office clash with Disney’s Star Wars. Release plans aside, Cameron revealed to Variety that his vision for Avatar‘s future very much revolves around Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their children.
Said he: “The storyline in the sequels really follows Jake and Neytiri and their children. It’s more of a family saga about the struggle with the humans.”
Anchoring the sci-fi series with a family dynamic is certainly wise, and will go some ways to injecting more personality into James Cameron’s box office behemoth. When pressed about the arrangement of those sequels, however, the esteemed director noted that Avatar 2 is still on course for a 2018 release as he looks to angle each new installment as an “annual appointment.” If Cameron really does have his eye on the December corridor, will his lavish tentpoles have what it takes to compete with Star Wars year in, year out? Time will tell.
Here’s the latest on those release plans:
“We haven’t moved that target yet, but we will if we need to. The important thing for me is not when the first one comes out but the cadence of the release pattern. I want them to be released as close together as possible. If it’s an annual appointment to show up at Christmas, I want to make sure that we’re able to fulfill on that promise.”
As things stand, Avatar 2 is penciled in for release around Christmas of 2018 and, thanks to Cameron’s plans to shoot the sequels concurrently, will be followed in quick succession by Avatar 3 in 2020, Avatar 4 in 2022, and (finally?) Avatar 5 in 2023.