James Cameron is riding high after Avatar‘s Chinese re-release saw it dethrone Avengers: Endgame to reclaim the title of highest-grossing movie ever made, a position that had looked unassailable for a decade until Earth’s Mightiest Heroes wrapped up the Infinity Saga. It could be a long time before something comes along with the potential to knock the Na’vi off their perch as well, unless of course Disney decide to send Endgame back into theaters just for a laugh.
Avatar 2 is still penciled in to arrive in December of next year, and after it was confirmed that shooting had wrapped a few months ago, it might actually end up releasing on schedule. However, just because Cameron has finished principal photography on one mega budget sci-fi blockbuster, that doesn’t mean he’s going to sit back and rest on his laurels.
Cameras started rolling on the Avatar sequels in September 2017, yet here we are three and a half years later and there’s no sign of the cast or crew slowing down. The team is hard at work in New Zealand on the third installment, with a new behind the scenes image showing Cameron goofing off with star Michelle Yeoh as a perplexed-looking Giovanni Ribisi watches on from the background, and you can check it out below.
The four Avatar sequels are scheduled to premiere in the Decembers of 2022, 2024, 2026 and 2028, and based on the fact that it took three years for the second movie to complete shooting from its first to last day, Cameron and his collaborators could realistically still have another four or five years to go before he can finally call it a wrap on the entire billion-dollar production, which boggles the mind when you think about it.