Avatar 2 is finally in the works, and the movie is set to be released in December 2017, according to 20th Century Fox chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos on Variety.

The production of the sequel to 2009's most successful film was supposed to have begun in 2014 and be slated for release in 2016, but several factors, such as complex scripts and the unfortunate death of the film's music composer, James Horner, have pushed the film to a much later release in 2017.

It could be a grand Christmas movie to watch because, according to Venture Capital Post, there are great expectations for the sequel to be "more technologically superior" to the previous movie.

It was reported that the film's frame rate will be increased, and the famed director also aims to shoot most of the scenes underwater.

To make that vision possible, director James Cameron is reportedly creating a new technology to perfectly capture film performance underwater. MSN quoted Cameron as saying the Avatar sequels entailed a very complex scriptwriting job, which was also why the film's release date would be delayed.

The task of writing the scripts for the sequel was described by Cameron as "very involved," and releasing the film on the initial release date would be too ambitious.

The report also said Cameron planned to film all three Avatar sequels at one time and would be released over consecutive years beginning in 2017.

"There's a layer of complexity in getting the story to work as a saga across three films that you don't get when you're making a stand-alone film," he said.

Although there is still a need for a formal announcement on the release date of Avatar 2, the 2017 plan seems likely due to reports that scripts for Avatar sequels 2, 3 and 4 have already been completed.