Keeping up with updates about the Avatar sequels over the years has been enough to make anyone’s head spin, but there’s finally some concrete news. After Sigourney Weaver recently divulged that production would begin in the fall, director James Cameron has announced the official release dates for the four planned sequels: December 18th, 2020; December 17th, 2021; December 20th, 2024; and December 19th, 2025.
The update was shared via the Avatar Facebook page Saturday morning, along with a photo of Cameron and the film crew.
“Great to be working with the best team in the business,” Cameron said in the post. “Avatar takes flight as we begin concurrent production on four sequels. The journey continues December 18th, 2020, December 17th, 2021, December 20th, 2024 and December 19th, 2025!”
The film production has taken long and winding road to arrive at this point. Cameron first announced back in 2013 that he was readying three sequels to the 2009 movie. Two years later, he said the first sequel was getting pushed back to 2017. If the plans weren’t ambitious enough already, Cameron added yet another sequel to the series with the promise to release a new Avatar movie every year beginning at the end of 2018.
While the announcement is certainly a positive sign, shooting still hasn’t begun yet and there’s still plenty of time for more delays. Shooting the sequels concurrently, however, should help the production stay on schedule. Regardless, Weaver promises the films are “well worth waiting for.”
