Back in 2009, Avatar was released and it went on to become the highest-grossing film ever, taking in over $2 billion worldwide. Part of the reason why this James Cameron film was so insanely popular was because it came out right around the time when 3D films were becoming popular. It created such a buzz because of its stunning visuals – you got to experience the lush, alien world of Pandora and immerse yourself in the gorgeous 3D environments, something which took the cinema experience to the next level. So what’s happening with the sequel?
Expanding the world of Pandora
James Cameron has announced that there are going to be three sequels and that they’re all going to be filmed one after the other, kind of like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The plan was originally for there to be two sequels, but now there are definitely going to be three. We’ve been promised that these three sequels will each explore new parts of Pandora we didn’t get to see in the first film, including the oceans of Pandora, though nothing about the plot of any of these sequels has been announced yet. Here’s hoping we get something as visually stunning as the floating mountains that featured so prominently in the first film.
Release date
For the record, Avatar 2 is just a placeholder title. James Cameron has said the film probably won’t be called Avatar 2, but an official title hasn’t been released yet. Anyway, the film doesn’t currently have a release date. First it was going to be released in late 2014, then it was pushed back to 2016, then it was definitely going to come out in late 2017. But then the next Star Wars film got pushed back from May 2017 to December 2017, and the studio executives don’t want Avatar 2 competing with the next Star Wars, so for now we can expect the film to finally come out in 2018. The next two Avatar films will then presumably come out in 2019 and 2020, provided there are no further delays.
Cast
We know that all the main cast are going to be back for Avatar 2, including Sigourney Weaver and Steven Lang, whose characters both died in the first film. It’s a sci-fi film, so you can’t really expect dead characters to stay dead. Sigourney’s already mentioned that she’ll be playing a completely new character, though there’s no word yet on whether Steven will be playing the same character or not.
Will it be as big as the first one?
It’s hard to say whether this new film will have the same buzz as the previous one. It’s sure spent a really long time in development, just like the first one, so there’s no doubt it will be a wonderful film to watch at the cinema. There’s no telling whether it will appeal to as wide an audience as the first one – many people went to see the first film because of the 3D aspect of it, but 3D cinema never took off as much as people had expected it to. The film will no doubt do very well, but with the first one becoming the highest-grossing film in history, a lot is riding on this one becoming a success.
