Ever since James Cameron's "Avatar" hit theaters in 2009 and blew away all previous box office records, the legendary filmmaker has dreamed of returning to the faraway planet of Pandora. In fact, Cameron has even said on multiple occasions that he will only work on the three planned "Avatar" sequels throughout the remainder of his career. But it's been six years and still no concrete updates on the franchise.
Now, however, with "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" chasing "Avatar's" prodigious grosses, Cameron has given fans a progress report. As things stand now, all three sequels will be shot simultaneously with the first expected in just a couple years.
"Christmas of '17 is the target," Cameron confirmed to The Montreal Gazette. "At least, that's what we've announced. But I don't consider that to be as important as the fact that when we get all three films done, we drop them a year apart. I call it a meta-narrative that runs across the three movies. Each film stands alone, but it also tells one much larger story.
"We have design more or less finished, which is an enormous task. It's been about a two-year task. (We've finished) all the creatures and the landscapes, and the new worlds within the world of Pandora that you see. The writing is ongoing, but almost finished. Technical development is done. Stages are done. Infrastructure. So we're really poised to start after the first of the year."
Clearly, Cameron has an incredibly ambitious plan in place for the "Avatar" franchise. Yet it's unknown if there is still a huge demand for these films. While the 2009 original sits atop the all-time box office chart with $2.7 billion, the movie's script and characters were met with mixed reaction. Some felt the dialog and acting to be stilted while the story was well-trodden territory. Still, there's no denying the groundbreaking visual effects that "Avatar" employed.
We'll just have to wait and see if the sequel is able to improve on its predecessor.
