Back in 2009, James Cameron’s Avatar thrilled audiences with pioneering 3-D technology, which helped to bring the sprawling, spectacular, alien world of Pandora to life. Almost immediately after the film released, we started hearing rumblings about a sequel, but here we are, almost eight years later, and still no Avatar 2.
That said, a follow-up is still very much in the works. Correction: Four follow-ups are still very much in the works. Cameron & Co. released the release dates for the films just a few months ago and they’re expected as follows: Avatar 2 (2020), Avatar 3, (2021) Avatar 4 (2024), and Avatar 5 (2025). If you’re thinking that four sequels sounds like overkill, you’re certainly not alone. In a recent interview, however, actress Sigourney Weaver sought to explain that five films is — not too many, not too few — just right.
As reported by ScreenCrush, Weaver says there is a “very good reason” to make four more Avatar films. If you’re thinking “yea, billions of dollars,” again, you’re not alone — but that’s not what the actress has in mind. Here’s a bit of what she had to say:
“There’s a very good reason why it turned out to be four sequels … Having read all four of them, I think they’re absolutely extraordinary and worth the wait.” In other words: “Trust James Cameron, this is going to be epic.”
Additionally, Weaver seems to be making news by revealing that there are, in fact, four full scripts for the four expected sequels, perhaps making it more likely that the director’s full vision will come to fruition.
Weaver also said we can expect the franchise to continue along the same arc it established with the first film and tell a story about “the peril of this beautiful planet [Pandora]” in addition to the, “… greed and callousness of the corporations and plight of the indigenous people.”
While 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025 are all a long way away, we can’t help but daydream about the new corners of Pandora the sequels will introduce us to, and the as-of-yet uninvented technologies they may use to explore them.
Until then, stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated on any and all Avatar news.
