It looks like the sequels to James Cameron’s 2009 fantasy Avatar will finally begin production this September after seemingly endless setbacks. As reported by ScreenRant, Avatar producer Jon Landau recently spoke at 20th Century Fox’s panel at the CineEurope Film Expo in Barcelona, where he revealed that filming for the Avatar sequels will begin September 25, 2017.
The director shared his enthusiasm for the project, and had kind words for director James Cameron, stating that Cameron “has done a couple of sequels before in his career and I would argue that those sequels have lived up to, if not exceeded, the original movies.”
He’s certainly not wrong on that point: the phenomenal Aliens, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day are widely considered to top their predecessors.
Landau also provided some story details for the sequels, and the themes present across the four films:
“At the heart of any movie are the characters. One of the strengths of great scripts are always the universal and relatable themes… There’s no more relatable theme than family. At the center of each of our four movies will be the Sully family. Each sequel will play as a stand-alone movie. Each movie’s story will come to its own conclusion… However, when looked at as a whole, the journey across all four movies will create an even larger connected epic saga for audiences around the world.”
SEE ALSO: James Cameron isn’t concerned about the long gap between Avatar movies
Avatar 2 will open on December 18th 2020, followed by Avatar 3 on December 17th 2021, Avatar 4 on December 20th 2024 and Avatar 5 on December 19th 2025. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Joel David Moore, and Stephen Lang are all making a return to the franchise, with new additions Cliff Curtis (Fear the Walking Dead) and Oona Chaplin (Game of Thrones) joining the fray.
Whether you loved, or hated the visually stunning 2009 film (and it really was stunning in 3D), It looks like we need to prepare ourselves for quite a lot of Avatar in a few years.
… You can find Jordan on Twitter (@JordJJones), and Facebook.
Originally published June 21, 2017. Updated November 29, 2019.
