Avatar 2 will begin production in the fall, later than the previously-announced starting month of August, according to a THR interview with Sigourney Weaver. Director James Cameron said back in January of this year,
“I’m now starting the process of active prep. I’ll be working with the actors in the capture volume in August, so I’m booked in production every day between now and then.”
At a screening for The Assignment, Weaver told the site:
“We’re starting! We’re starting training, and we’re starting — hm, I probably can’t say anything. We will be actually shooting it by the fall.” Though there is a delay in filming, she also gushed about the scripts. “I’m telling you, these scripts are so amazing. I’m not worried about [disappointing fans] at all. Am I worried about how we’re going to bring them to life? Yes, because they’re so ambitious. They’re so worth it. They’re well worth waiting for. I’m not worried about that at all. We’re trying to get it done as quickly as possible.”
Cameron also stated recently that the second film will not be released in 2018, which is not surprising.
“Well, 2018 is not happening. We haven’t announced a firm release date. What people have to understand is that this is a cadence of releases. So we’re not making Avatar 2. We’re making Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5. It’s an epic undertaking. It’s not unlike building the Three Gorges dam. (Laughs) So I know where I’m going to be for the next eight years of my life. It’s not an unreasonable time frame if you think about it. It took us four-and-a-half years to make one movie and now we’re making four. We’re full tilt boogie right now. This is my day job and pretty soon we’ll be 24-7. We’re pretty well designed on all our creatures and sets. It’s pretty exciting stuff. I wish I could share with the world. But we have to preserve a certain amount of showmanship and we’re going to draw that curtain when the time is right.”
Confirmed to feature the return of cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver, the Avatar sequels will be produced by Cameron and Jon Landau through their Lightstorm Entertainment. The sequels are written by Cameron along Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, and Shane Salerno.
