Ever since Avatar set the box office on fire, there been talk about not just one but two sequels. However while James Cameron has suggested he’s keen to make them – not least to make use of the investment in technology and world design seen in the first movie – he’s also been flirting with other projects, such as a biopic of Cleopatra and the long-gestating Battle Angel.
20th Century Fox, of course, wants the Avatar movies first, and for the few months have been trying to hammer out a deal tying Cameron to getting the sequels on screen as soon as possible. While the director has previously been a bit coy about how close they were to agreeing terms – presumably so it was easier for him to play hardball with the studio – the NY Times reports that he’s now officially confirmed that Avatar 2 & 3 will be his next movies, that they’ll be shot back-to-back, and he’ll begin filming next year.
And just to absolutely confirm it, the official Fox Twitter feed tweeted that, ‘James Cameron has agreed to make AVATAR 2 and 3 as his next films… Cameron, who always viewed AVATAR as creation of new world and mythology, will begin writing in early 2011 with eye towards late 2011 start.’
Like the first movie, with so much effects work, post-production will take several years, so Avatar 2 won’t arrive in cinemas until December 2014, with the third planned for a year later in 2015. The presumption is that the films won’t simply be called Avatar 2 & 3, but as yet no official titles have been announced.
So are you ready to go back to Pandora?