James Cameron Announces Avatar 2 Delayed

Read on to learn how far the sequels have been pushed back.

Story by David Clark

It was announced today that the follow-up film to the wildly successful Avatar has been pushed out of 2016 and into 2017. James Cameron has big plans for the future of the Avatar franchise which was apparent when it was learned that Avatar would have not 1, but 3 sequels.

The 3 upcoming films have still not received their finished titles. They are still known as Avatar 2, Avatar 3, and Avatar 4. Cameron’s plan has always been to write and film all three movies at the same time and then release one film per year. However, due to the delay the first film will not appear until 2017. Currently assisting Cameron with the writing of the individual movies are a couple of well known names. Working on Avatar 2 are Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Josh Friedman (The Sarah Connor Chronicles) is working on Avatar 3. Shane Salerno (Savages) is also working with Cameron on Avatar 4.

When answering questions regarding the franchise being delayed into 2017 Cameron had this to say:

"There's a layer of complexity in getting the story to work as a saga across three films that you don't get when you're making a stand-alone film."

In this day and age where movie franchises seem to forget about congruity between films, it is not unwelcome news to hear the sequels were delayed with the intention of improving balance between the films. Honestly, if Peter Jackson had taken that same approach to The Hobbit, the results might have been different.

The good news, Sam Worthington (Jake Sully), Zoe Saldana (Neytiri), and Sigourney Weaver (Grace) from the original cast have all signed on for the upcoming sequels. This shows some forward thinking by Cameron and lends some credibility to his claims of continuity within the franchise.

As of right now Cameron is hoping to be done with the screenwriting for all 3 films by the end of January. Taking on 3 massive blockbusters at the same time certainly seems like quite the undertaking, especially considering the level of CGI (computer-generated imagery) utilized within the films. The difficulty facing Cameron and his team does not end there. Avatar is not simply another movie, it is another world. Cameron and his people have to create a living breathing universe and fill that universe with plants, creatures, and aliens that do not exist in the real world. That takes a certain level of creativity and imagination that must then be translated onto the big screen in an interesting and entertaining form. That said, when Avatar was released in 2009 it became the highest-grossing film in history with a box-office take of nearly $2.8 billion, and the movie also won three Academy Awards. Perhaps Cameron has earned some good will and trust from fans of the franchise.

If fans of the franchise are still excited when the movies finally start to roll out in 2017 they might be in for a treat. At least, James Cameron seems to think so...

"They're gonna be bitchin'. You will shit yourself with your mouth wide open."

Sources Rolling Stone, IMDB