James Cameron’s fabled Avatar sequels have been in the works ever since the first film became a global phenomenon and box office record-breaker. But it’s almost become a running joke that the films are never going to come out, no matter how much news comes out to the contrary.
And despite filming beginning later this summer, according to both Cameron and star Sam Worthington, rumors that the film would not hit its planned 2018 release date also surfaced.
Those rumors have now been confirmed by the director himself, as Cameron was speaking with the Toronto Star about various projects when the news slipped.
When asked about the development of the sequels, Cameron stated very candidly that Avatar 2’s planned release in 2018 “is not happening.”
“We haven’t announced a firm release date. What people have to understand is that this is a cadence of releases. So we’re not making Avatar 2. We’re making Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5. It’s an epic undertaking.”
Despite yet another delay, the news is probably calming to the big wigs at 20th Century Fox, who would otherwise be competing against another Star Wars film. Or maybe it’s the opposite, and the Disney executives can breathe a sigh of relief?
Cameron went on to detail his level of involvement in the productions, which, as you’d expect, is pretty intense.“So I know where I’m going to be for the next eight years of my life,” Cameron said. “It’s not an unreasonable time frame if you think about it. It took us four-and-a-half years to make one movie and now we’re making four. We’re full tilt boogie right now. This is my day job and pretty soon we’ll be 24-7. We’re pretty well designed on all our creatures and sets.”
Despite all of the so-called progress being made on Avatar 2 and the other films, we’ve yet to see nary a piece of concept art or plot detail. Cameron spoke about the secrecy surrounding the project as well.
“It’s pretty exciting stuff,” Cameron said. “I wish I could share with the world. But we have to preserve a certain amount of showmanship and we’re going to draw that curtain when the time is right.”
Avatar 2 will no longer release in 2018. Expect a new release date hopefully before the next decade
Source: Comicbook.