We’ve heard plenty about the easy-choice sequels to Avatar, including that it was possible that director James Cameron might just film them back-to-back in order to cut costs and get them in theaters much sooner. Aside from that, it was unclear when these might happen and even whether these two sequels would be Cameron’s next project or not.
To settle all of that 20th Century Fox has put out an official announcement that Cameron will in fact direct Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 next up, with hopes to begin production by late 2011. It’s still unclear whether or not the two films will be shot back-to-back, but with planned release dates in 2014 and one year later in 2015, you’d have to assume that it’s very, very likely. All that needs to be done is a little production math: it took Cameron years just to get the record-breaking Avatar in theaters, and a 2011-2014 job planned, it’d be a tad crazy to think he could somehow find a way to squeeze in the third film in under a year.
Of the announcement, Cameron had this to say:
As expected, the movies will go big with IMAX and 3D being utilized in full.
There had been rumors that Cameron might step away from Pandora to make a big Cleopatra movie with Angelina Jolie in the lead, but as you can see, he’s chosen to stick with his creation and run with what’s proven so successful already.
[Source: Hitfix]