‘Avatar’ became a blockbuster in 2009 and remains the highest grossing movie ever worldwide.  Follow-ups are just logical, yet so far none have materialized.  Director James Cameron has big plans for the franchise, including three sequels, all filmed simultaneously/back-to-back to be released one year apart.  The first was slated to arrive at Christmas 2017 but 20th Century Fox has altered those plans.

This may or may not have anything to do with ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ relocating from Memorial Day 2017 to a Christmas release, similar to ‘Episode VII: The Force Awakens’ and this winter’s ‘Rogue One’.  For ‘Star Wars’ if makes better sense to release their movies around the same time ever year, the way other franchises do it.  But did ‘Star Wars’ drive ‘Avatar’ from its release date?

Probably not.  As fans, it might have been fun to see how these two major releases would fare head-to-head, more likely, Cameron just needs more time to develop ‘Avatar 2’, considering how long this and the other sequels have been in pre-production.  No new release date was announced.  It’s possible that Fox will slot it in as a summer release, where it may do better.

The big question mark is that while ‘Avatar’ make ungodly amounts of money internationally, it has been usurped by ‘The Force Awakens’ in the U.S.  Part of that is that while ‘Star Wars’ is possibly the biggest franchise in film in the U.S., it doesn’t quite have the same ravenous fanbase worldwide.  But at the same time, while ‘Avatar’ crossed boundaries, it hasn’t gone on to become the classic masterpiece one might expect from such a cash cow.  In fact, one could easily argue that it was a one-and-done experience and that audiences aren’t necessarily clamoring for more.  As financially successful as the first ‘Avatar’ was, it was hardly without its flaws.

The next logical release would be the summer of 2018, but for that to happen, ‘Avatar 2’ would need to start filming this spring which isn’t going to happen, as Zoë Saldana is locked in to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2’ which is due to start filming at that time.

Could this mean that further ‘Avatar’ movies may never happen?  Anything is possible.  The fact is, while the first movie slayed, it didn’t embed itself as a beloved film or potential franchise the way other films have.  The question is really… does it matter when a new ‘Avatar’ is released?  It’s like the old “If a tree falls in the woods” debate.  If a new ‘Avatar’ comes out, will there be an audience that wants to see it?

Source: Cinema Blend