Aside from calling dibs on adapting ‘Battle Angel’ for the big screen, James Cameron is basically in the business of ‘Avatar’. The filmmaker has formed a partnership with Disney to make Pandora a part of Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida so he’s busy with the planning stages of those attractions, but also it appears that he’s gearing up for the next installments in his record-breaking franchise. And yes, that’s plural because he’s laying the groundwork for three sequels. And, if this source is correct, they’ll be shot back to back to back.
According to Roger Friedman at Showbiz 411 (via Collider), ‘Avatar’ star Sigourney Weaver, who is set to return to the franchise despite her fate in the original, claims that the director will film the three ‘Avatar’ sequels all at once. While talking to the actress about her upcoming projects, he discovered where the Na’vi fit in on her schedule:
“She goes right into a new Christopher Durang play for a short run at Lincoln Center. Then she films ‘Avatar 2, 3, and 4’ with James Cameron. That’s right: they’re making three sequels to the blue 3D phenom all at the same time. Weaver says she has no idea how long it will take, or how it’s going to work. “I just show up,” she said.”
It makes sense for Cameron to group all these movies together considering how much time and money it takes to build up, then break down each production. Also, it would probably be easier to lock the cast in for one long shoot rather than to schedule three separate shoots.
However, I’m curious as to whether the public really wants or needs three more ‘Avatar’ movies. Sure, the use of technology was revolutionary and everything looked really cool, but the story was recycled and played out, so I was pretty disinterested by the end of the film. I may have the unpopular opinion here, but ‘Avatar’ was not that good. And if ‘Avatar 2’ isn’t that good, then the studio will have wasted all that money on the 3rd and 4th movies. It’s a huge gamble, but judging by James Cameron’s track record, which includes 2 of the highest grossing films of all time, I guess the studio thinks that they have a pretty safe bet.
Originally, the next film in the ‘Avatar’ series was supposed to hit theaters in December 2014, but because of these new developments, it’s more likely that we won’t see the world of Pandora until 2015 or 2016 or later.
