James Cameron is known for taking his sweet time when it comes to putting a movie together, and when Avatar 2 finally hits theaters in December 2022, if it still makes that date obviously, it’ll mark just his third feature film in 28 years. Prolific certainly wouldn’t be the word used to describe him, then, but he tends to find himself getting distracted by things like diving to the deepest depths of the ocean, becoming heavily involved in social activism and pioneering the technological advancement of cinema.
Avatar may have become the highest-grossing movie ever made when it arrived in December 2009, and until Avengers: Endgame came along a decade later nothing had even come within $700 million of matching the sci-fi blockbuster’s box office total except Cameron’s own Titanic, but it wouldn’t be unfair to say the world of Pandora has failed to make the seismic impression on pop culture that the creator would have been hoping for.
Avatar 2 was originally set to hit theaters today, and because the internet never forgets anything, social media had a field day with a three year-old tweet confirming the release date, as you can see below.
OH THAT’S TOMORROW—wait a minute https://t.co/Q2ROFB250k
— W³ Esq. says “Free Coyote Vs. Acme” (@dementedkirby) December 17, 2020
1 More Day!!!!!! lol https://t.co/OhepZ1uLHq
— Carlos Romero (@Eurocar9) December 17, 2020
Who are those kids???? https://t.co/pKa5Tkynxw
— 🦀DeeP🦀 (@DefaultProphet) December 17, 2020
I feel bad for the Avatar superfans who saw this tweet 1,177 days ago, immediately logged off and went into hiding to avoid spoilers, and just emerged from their bunkers to line up for the midnight showing tonight. https://t.co/oRkmmltboh
— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) December 17, 2020
THREE YEARS LATER and we're still waiting 😂
Surely they did reshoots because these Hollywood kids grow up so fast (except for Saint and Chicago West) https://t.co/vn7LgStJ5v
— How you DUNE (@Prometa_Anatelo) December 17, 2020
Big movies are back in theaters TOMORROW. #Avatar https://t.co/N4E3y1QiML
— Thomas (@TomSteffler) December 17, 2020
Avatar's lasting impact on pop culture is so insignificant that a 3-year-old poorly aged tweet is the most anyone's cared about Avatar since 2012. https://t.co/04UNoXAINi
— One Cult, Two Cults, Red Cult, Blue Cult 🇵🇸 (@ljmontello) December 17, 2020
I can't Wait. Anyway I'm off to the Cinema to see it tonight and I'll let you know all about it https://t.co/oimKktZVU1
— Harvey Butlin (Miley's Version) #KS4PM #GENOW (@HB_Politics) December 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/ImLibo/status/1339670089986002944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1339670089986002944%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Favatar-sequel-originally-scheduled-release-this-week%2F
Wouldn’t it be a riot if this actually came out tomorrow? https://t.co/wqXFMUInOs
— Brian Skutle (@skutlelemur) December 17, 2020
The second installment has now finished filming, so Avatar 2 might actually be in the can and on the big screen in two years from now, but the crew are shooting three of these behemoths back to back at a cost of over a billion dollars, which means that the creative team might find themselves getting a little distracted by the sheer scale of the production.
Besides, Avatar 2 is currently on its eighth different release date as it is, so nobody is going to be surprised in the slightest if it ends up being delayed at least a couple more times.