James Cameron's previously announced last year that they are in fact going to be producing three new "Avatar" sequels, essentially making the 2009 movie the first of a planned tetralogy. Now, new reports have confirmed that the ball is now rolling for the next installment, tentatively called "Avatar 2," which reportedly starts shooting in fall of this year.
Confirmation from one of the movie's stars
Sigourney Weaver, who played the role of Dr. Grace Augustine in the original movie, recently revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that she and her fellow Cast Members are apparently already in the middle of training.
The actress was hesitant to share any other details regarding the upcoming sequels but Weaver eventually stated that filming is scheduled to take place in the fall of this year.
Weaver's take on the script for 'Avatar 2'
The actress, who is also famously known for her role as Ripley in the "Aliens" franchise, also expressed her astonishment at the script for the upcoming movies. Weaver explained that she was not worried about fans being disappointed at all as the script for the movies were "so amazing."
Stars confirmed to be returning
Sam Worthington, who played Jake Scully, and Zoe Saldana, who played the Na'vi named Neytiri, have already been confirmed to be returning in the next movies. Aside from Weaver, Stephen Lang has also been confirmed to reprise his role as Colonel Miles Quaritch.
New cast members are expected to be featured, but there is not much yet that is known about any of the new characters that are going to be introduced.
Movie setting and possible plot
In a separate interview, Worthington had revealed that the next film will mainly be focusing on the "family" aspect of the characters. The actor also revealed that the next installment will be taking place eight years after the events of the original film.
His character, Sully, has apparently already started a family of his own on Pandora.
'Avatar' sequel release dates
Initial reports had pegged the release date for "Avatar 2" to be sometime during December of 2018. However, Cameron immediately shot down the rumors and mentioned that the next movie will probably be out by 2019 at the soonest. "Avatar 3," "Avatar 4" and "Avatar 5" will reportedly follow on December 2020, 2022, and 2030, respectively.
