The last time news was reported on James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ sequels, it was to say that the films would not be in theaters before 2015 at the earliest. Although no specific reason was given as to why the long wait, the 6 year gap between sequels have fans anxious to see them on the big screen. At last night’s ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ premiere, Cameron was on hand to celebrate Peter Jackson’s movie and was able to give an update to his long awaited revisit to Pandora.
Speaking with ‘The West Australian’, Cameron was kind enough to share his timeline with regards to his ‘Avatar’ sequels stating that he wants to make sure the scripts are written before filming begins:
“I want to get these scripts nailed down. I don’t want to be writing the movie in post-production. We kind of did that on the first picture, I ended up cutting out a lot of scenes and so on and I don’t want to do that again.”
Cameron also indicated that he plans to have the stories locked down by February 2013 so that production can begin later in the year.
With regards to Jackson using 48fps to film ‘The Hobbit,’ Cameron commented on the possibility of filming his sequels in the same format but he’s waiting to see how the movie goers respond to the filming style:
“If there is acceptance of 48, then that will pave the way for Avatar [sequels] to take advantage of it […] We charged out ahead on 3D with Avatar, now Peter’s doing it with the Hobbit. It takes that kind of bold move to make change.”
So far, audience testing to 48fps has been mixed and although the high frame rate brings a more realistic quality to the visual of the film, many feel that this actually detracts from the experience and some filmmakers are still reluctant to go that route. But Cameron likens the response to the same way people thought of CD’s when they first introduced:
“I remember when CDs came in and there was a nostalgic feeling that the sound of a needle on vinyl was what music should sound like — suddenly you’ve got this pristine clarity and a lot of people were nay-saying it.”
Considering Cameron was a pioneer in the 3D filming process, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he found a way to work out any kinks in 48fps filming by the time ‘Avatar 2’ came out that would make naysayers into believers.
Although Cameron did take some time out to support Jackson and ‘The Hobbit,’ he did make it clear he came to New Zealand to work on the ‘Avatar’ scripts. However, he’s finding it difficult to complete as he complains, that, “Unfortunately, [New Zealand’s] too damn distracting because it’s so beautiful”.
Hopefully, Cameron can keep to his schedule and in 3 months’ time we’ll be reported that a script is completed and that casting has begun for ‘Avatar 2′!
