It's been six years since James Cameron's "Avatar" brought modern 3D revolution to cinemas and home television, but the director is still adamant on making a sequel. However, according to a report from Ecumenical News, "Avatar 2" has been pushed back from its 2016 release to late 2017. 

According to the report, "Avatar 2" is now scheduled for a Christmas 2017 release. The report states that Cameron is still waiting for new technology to develop, one that will allow him to film motion capture performances underwater. Because development on this type of technology is taking a while, the director has opted to delay the film. 

The report also cites that the late James Horner, the musical composer for the first film and a regular collaborator with Cameron, has made enough material for four sequels instead of three, and that Cameron is currently editing his draft scripts to cut the material down in order to get the three films he wants to make. 

"Avatar 2" is now scheduled to hit theaters in late 2017 while "Avatar 3" and "Avatar 4" will be released in 2018 and 2019, respectively. 

If Cameron intends on shooting all three films back-to-back, then he would follow in the footsteps of director Peter Jackson who did the same thing for "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit," each franchise comprising of three films. 

According to a report from Variety, 20th Century Fox chairman-CEO Jim Gianopulos stated that he has seen the work that Cameron has done for the film thus far and describes it as follows:

"It's a room...which is covered floor to ceiling with images, characters, worlds, settings. It's the most amazing, breathtaking thing you've ever seen. His challenge is to put all of that in a movie." 

Gianopulos also stated in the report that he believes Cameron will be able to hit his target release dates. One important note to take into consideration is that the "Avatar" sequels will now be in direct conflict with the release of several "Star Wars" films.