As soon as Avatar became a world conquering phenomenon, Fox locked James Cameron into directing two sequels, getting him to put other projects aside so he could concentrate on returning to Pandora. However the director has been taking his time getting the movies together.
Initially Fox had hoped to get the sequels in cinemas in 2014 and 2015, but Cameron has now revealed he’s still writing the films, which means we’re unlikely to get Avatar 2 until 2015 at the very earliest.
He told Play Goes Strong, “I’m working on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3. I was talking the other day with Peter Jackson and said, ‘You had it easy dude. You had the books when you did the second and third ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ I have to create my own books in my head and extract a script from it. I’m deep into it and I’m living in Pandora right now. There is that start up torque where you feel it’s coming to you. Then you build up momentum. That’s when it gets fun. The characters talk and it’s writing itself. I’m almost there right now. It’s building fast.”
Cameron also talked about the pressure he feels under, “Pressure, no. It’s a little daunting because sequels are always tricky. You have to be surprising and stay ahead of audience anticipation. At the same time, you have to massage their feet with things that they know and love about the first film. I’ve walked that line in the past, so I’m not too worried about it. At the same time, I definitely have to deliver the goods…As for a release date that will be determined by when I get the script out. No pressure!”
Previous rumours had suggested Cameron was going to finish the scripts by this month, but that seems to be off the cards now.