'Avatar 2' won't go into production until the scripts for the three sequels finish, a process which proves to be quite complex.
- Jan 15, 2015
AceShowbiz - "Avatar 2" will arrive later than expected. Originally scheduled for late 2016, the sequel is now postponed to 2017. Speaking at an event in Wellington, New Zealand, director James Cameron said the script-writing process had become "very involved."
The original plan was to have the scripts for the three movies completed this month so that production could kick off as soon as possible, but "there's a layer of complexity in getting the story to work as a saga across three films," so the helmer explained.
"We're writing three simultaneously and we've done that so that everything tracks throughout the three films," he said. "We're not just going to do one and then make up another one and another one after that. And parallel with that, we're doing all the design. So we've designed all the creatures and the environments."
For Cameron, as reported by the Associated Press, it was important that each film linked forward to the next one in a satisfying way but also came to a resolution so that the audience wasn't left hanging.
Producer Jon Landau said they're taking greater security precautions after the cyber attack against Sony. "I will only say 'yes' but will not tell you how," he joked.
Released in 2009, the original film became the highest-grossing film in history with a box office gross of nearly $2.8 billion. It went on to take the best drama title at the Golden Globes and won three Oscars for cinematography, visual effects, and art direction.
Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Stephen Lang are set to reprise their respective roles as Jake Sully, Neytiri, and Colonel Miles Quaritch. Sigourney Weaver will also return, but she is expected to play a new character in each of the sequels.
Cameron will shoot the sequels in New Zealand where the first movie was filmed. He was recently in the country to promote the local film industry with other directors including Peter Jackson who also shot "The Hobbit" movies there. Now that the final JRR Tolkein adaptation was done, Jackson is enjoying "a rest." He said, "It's the first time in five years that I haven't woken up in the morning and had deadlines."
