Buried within a recent Variety profile on 20th Century Fox chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos, Avatar director James Cameron offered a brief update on the sequels Avatar 2, Avatar 3 and Avatar 4.
We reported last year that Avatar 2 will be released in December 2016, with Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 following in 2017 and 2018. The filmmaker revealed that and 20th Century Fox allowed him to develop all three stories over the past few years, and that he is using these stories to comment on what is currently going on in the world and human history, which is rapidly changing day by day.
"There's nothing I need to say as an artist about the state of the world and human affairs that I can't do through the lens of the Avatar universe. We've had a couple of years to think through the story arc of the next three films, and every day that goes by, I believe in the stories I'm telling more and more. We're not coming out of the block fast to capitalize on the last film."
While there have been rumors that all three Avatar sequels will cost $1 billion altogether, Jim Gianopulos reveals the final production budget hasn't been set yet. He did express his excitement to see how the movies will eventually come together.
"We know it's going to be a long journey. We know it's not going to be cheap. We know it's not going to be without new discoveries and new challenges in the process of producing something that is so beyond the normal form of filmmaking and technology, but what could be more exciting than that."
Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Stephen Lang are confirmed to reprise their roles from Avatar, although no other cast members have been set at this time.James Cameron is directing and co-writing the scripts of each sequel with Josh Friedman (Avatar 2), Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Avatar 3) and Shane Salerno (Avatar 4).
The next three Avatar films come to theaters November 2016, 2017, and 2018.
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