James Cameron and producer Jon Landau recently talked about the Avatar sequels with Entertainment Weekly .
During the chat Cameron recalled the huge success of the first film:
It is a process that in some ways seems a bit absurd. I mean, if Avatar hadn’t made so much money, he never would have made it.
But will the sequels be able to achieve the same result? The world has changed a lot, in fact …
The big problem is: will we be able to make money? Big, expensive movies have to make a lot of money. We are in a new post-COVID, post-streaming world. Maybe those numbers [at the Box Office] will never be seen again. Who knows? It is a big bet.
Producer Jon Landau then focused on the story:
The sequels are a family story, about what parents are willing to do to keep the family together and safe. I always say that Jim’s films are about universal themes and there is no more universal theme than family.
As we know, the film will feature spectacular underwater sequences, which required the development of new technologies for motion capture. Speaking of which, the director said:
My colleagues in the production insisted on shooting dry, hanging actors from cables. But I said it wouldn’t be real. I also allowed them to do a test where we shot dry and then did some raw underwater footage. They weren’t even close.
By clicking on the link you find in this tweet you can see new images:
“It’s kind of crazy.” https://t.co/gfGYeeTbnY
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) December 15, 2021
Cast, direction and screenplay
The sequels return Sam Worthington , Zoe Saldana , Sigourney Weaver , Matt Gerald , Giovanni Ribisi , Stephen Lang and CCH Pounder . The direction is obviously handled by James Cameron , also screenwriter together with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno .
Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 were shot simultaneously, closely followed by Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 .
New faces
New cast actors include Cliff Curtis ( Tonowari ), Oona Chaplin ( Varang ), Brendan Cowell ( Mick Scoresby ), Kate Winslet ( Ronal ), David Thewlis , Michelle Yeoh ( Dr. Karina Mogue ), Edie Falco ( General Ardmore) ) and Jemaine Clement ( Dr. Ian Garvin ).
The release dates
December 16, 2022 – Avatar 2
December 20, 2024 – Avatar 3
December 18, 2026 – Avatar 4
December 22, 2028 – Avatar 5