Back in November, James Cameron revealed that his plan for the sequels to ‘Avatar’ was to get the scripts finished in February 2013 and then start production shortly after that later in the year. Now, we’re already more than halfway through March 2013 and we have no scripts for ‘Avatar 2’ or ‘Avatar 3’. Just how far along in the planning stages are our next trips to Pandora? The creative mind behind the Na’vi has emerged to give us a little update.

In a recent interview with Play Goes Strong that mostly covers the filmmaker’s work with Cirque du Soleil, Cameron briefly touches on the progress of the next films in the ‘Avatar’ franchise. First, he talks about building the worlds of the scripts:

“I’m working on ‘Avatar 2′ and ‘Avatar 3.’ I was talking the other day with Peter Jackson and said, ‘You had it easy dude. You had the books when you did the second and third ‘Lord of the Rings.’ I have to create my own books in my head and extract a script from it. I’m deep into it and I’m living in Pandora right now. There is that start up torque where you feel it’s coming to you. Then you build up momentum. That’s when it gets fun. The characters talk and it’s writing itself. I’m almost there right now. It’s building fast.”

He goes on to say that his writing process requires complete isolation before revealing that he’s taking part in the interview from a small farm in New Zealand because for him, “when you live in a special world like Pandora, you have to live in that world”. Though it all sounds like quite the strenuous process, Cameron doesn’t feel pressured to top his record-breaking performance with the first film:

“Pressure, no. It’s a little daunting because sequels are always tricky. You have to be surprising and stay ahead of audience anticipation. At the same time, you have to massage their feet with things that they know and love about the first film. I’ve walked that line in the past, so I’m not too worried about it. At the same time, I definitely have to deliver the goods…As for a release date that will be determined by when I get the script out. No pressure!”

Yeah, no pressure at all. You only have to follow the main event with undercard fights. Or maybe I’m speaking too soon. For all we know, James Cameron may have some more technological advancements that will trump those of the first ‘Avatar’. What I do know is that these scripts need to be a lot better than the first one. Sure, it looked cool, but the script was a little weak. If he was developing the first script since 1994 and yielded those results, then I truly hope that he enlisted some help other than re-watching ‘Ferngully: The Last Rainforest’.

Supposedly, ‘Avatar 2’ is planned to hit theaters in 2015, but like Cameron said, it all depends on when he can finish the scripts.

Are you looking forward to seeing more of Pandora in ‘Avatar 2’ and ‘Avatar 3’? Do you think that James Cameron will improve on the story from the first ‘Avatar’ while he’s hiding away in isolation? Let us know what you’re thinking in the comments below.