That’s right. Before anyone has even seen Avatar 2, three other Avatar movies have been approved by Disney. And James Cameron has already shot most of them! Keep in mind that it’s been 13 years since the original film came out. Let’s create some context for that. The first Iron Man came out only one year before Avatar did. So if we’re going to talk sequels, the entire Infinity Saga happened between Avatar and Avatar 2. It’s also been ten years since South Park lampooned him for “raising the bar.” So even the parody of James Cameron filming Avatar 2 has become ancient history by now.
It seems Disney and Cameron are treating Avatar’s sequels as sort of illuminated manuscripts, in a sense that “the world isn’t ready for Avatar 2.” And perhaps they’re right. Movie theater attendance is at an all-time low, even after many states have rescinded controls from the pandemic. And a movie released on a streaming service is one released aiming at price efficiency for the service and is not meant to have the same “big splash” one might see from a theater release. We are living in a changed world. The entertainment industry operates far differently than it did in 2009 when Avatar had its ’titanic’ success. Maybe James Cameron has just waited too long to release Avatar 2.
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The Best Laid Plans…
20th Century Studios
Keep in mind that Cameron has been planning Avatar sequels ever since it first came out. He and his writers have had five scripts inked since 2017. And he’s always “had a storyline in mind from the start.” Avatar 2 was initially planned to hit theaters in 2014, but that turned out to be way off the mark. In 2016, Cameron announced that the movies were to be released every other Christmas starting in 2018, going all the way until 2022, while tacking on Avatar 5 in 2023 in the official announcement. Of course, that didn’t turn out to be the case. Though they kept the Christmas release pattern the same, the years kept getting pushed back. Zoe Saldana went and did Guardians of the Galaxy. And Sam Worthington had other projects as well. After numerous delays, Avatar 2 began filming in 2017. Its release date was set for December 18, 2020. And in 2018, they gave us the names for all four sequels – Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar: The Seed Bearer, Avatar: The Tulkun Rider, and Avatar: The Quest for Eywa.
Over the course of this epic tale of production delays, offers had come to James Cameron to direct different movies. But he remained adamant, working on Avatar. He famously told the New York Times, “I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4, and I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them.” Although that was a long time ago, he seems to have kept his word. In 2016, he turned down Sony’s offer to direct their never-realized film, Cleopatra, with Angelina Jolie in favor of sticking with his Avatar project. But of course, in 2020, the whole world suffered a major setback, Avatar notwithstanding. Travel was paused, countries were locked down, and the crew’s New Zealand filming location was closed to them.
So Where Are We Now?
20th Century Fox
Even though James Cameron was confident he could hit a December 2020 release date for Avatar 2, Disney pushed the film back another year, citing their strategy to alternate releases of Avatar and Star Wars every Christmas in order to keep the two sci-fi behemoths from stepping on each other’s toes. But the pandemic screwed everything up for both of them. Because many businesses remained closed during 2021, Disney pushed the date back again, fearing weakened attendance. Avatar 2 is now set to open on December 16, 2022, and, barring yet another unforeseen catastrophe, should actually make it.
Though it is extraordinary how long the movie has been in production, the original Avatar had itself been in the works for 15 years before it premiered. And this time, similar to The Lord of the Rings, Cameron was making three other movies simultaneously, not just Avatar 2. Surprising, though, how one filmmaker can stay focused for so many years, refusing to look at other projects or take different work in what is, in fact, his main source of income. Avatar’s tremendous undertaking must require a massive amount of grit fueled by beautiful inspiration. Of course, it can’t hurt to have that generous benefactor, too.
But even if you’re not a fan of the film, you have to give the man credit for staying committed to his vision. In the face of these difficulties and distractions, it’d behoove us to remember: “James Cameron doesn’t do what James Cameron does for James Cameron. James Cameron does what James Cameron does because James Cameron is James Cameron.” And he’s a filmmaker that deserves our respect.
