'Avatar 2' Release Date News: 'Avatar' Sequel Won't Make It For Christmas 2017 Release
The sequel to "Avatar" (2009), the sci-fi epic which holds the record for highest worldwide box office gross, won't be finished in time for its scheduled Christmas 2017 release.
According to The Wrap, which broke the news, this will be the second delay for "Avatar 2," which was originally scheduled for a Christmas 2016 release date.
In 2014, the lead actors from "Avatar," Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington, signed up to reprise their roles in "Avatar" for the forthcoming three sequels. Twentieth Century Fox, which had originally scheduled the trilogy's release dates for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Christmas seasons, declined to comment on the latest "Avatar 2" delay. The company has not released a new release date for "Avatar 2" nor for the two other sequels.
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James Cameron, who wrote, produced, and directed "Avatar," is said to be planning on shooting all three "Avatar" followups concurrently in New Zealand. According to reports, some computer animation for "Avatar 2" is already in its early stages and some soundstage construction has been done for the film. The start date for the filming of "Avatar 2" is yet to be set.
The sequel, which will be produced by Cameron and Jon Landau via their Lightstorm Entertainment production company, is said to pick up where "Avatar" left off, but may, according to the director, be set in one of Pandora's moons and/or underwater.
Though Fox has never announced an official release date for the "Avatar" sequel, Cameron, who is known for his perfectionism and passion for developing new moviemaking technology, previously revealed that the film was on track for a 2017 release. Fox CEO Jim Gianopulos reported the same in 2015 after seeing Cameron in New Zealand. The Fox boss, however, said, "James Cameron has his own pace."
Though neither Cameron nor Fox has commented on this latest delay, the news that "Avatar 2" won't be released in Christmas 2017 seems to have been confirmed by Disney's announcement that it is moving the release date for "Star Wars: Episode VIII" to December 15, 2017. As The Wrap noted, it is unlikely that Disney would move the "Episode VIII" release to that date unless they were certain that their film would not be going head-to-head with Cameron's.
