It was expected, but now it’s official, with The Hollywood Reporter revealing that Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana have officially signed on the dotted line and will reprise the roles of Jake Sully and Neytiri in James Cameron’s three Avatar sequels, which will be shot back-to-back-to-back starting in October for release between 2016 and 2018.
The duo join the previously confirmed Stephen Lang in the cast of the sequels, with Lang set to return as Colonel Quaritch, despite his demise in the first film. Few plot details are known, but THR’s report claims that Worthington and Saldana’s characters will have children in the sequels.
The trio of Avatar sequels are being written by Cameron alongside Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Shane Salerno (Savages), and Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Avatar 2 is set to hit in December 2016 followed by Avatar 3 in December 2017 and Avatar 4 in December 2018.