'Avatar 2' release date update: Film to focus on 'prison theme,' reveals poster designer

Avatar20th Century Fox

Back in January, it was announced that "Avatar 2" won't hit theaters until late 2017, but that doesn't mean pre-production isn't ongoing. According to a leak from BGNNews, the poster for the film is currently being designed, and one of the two finalists making the said poster has revealed some information regarding the film's plot. 

Turkish poster designer Gökşan Özman is one of the two finalists chosen to create the one-sheet poster that director James Cameron and the studios will use to promote "Avatar 2." Özman is responsible for several big-budget Hollywood posters such as those used for "Gravity," "Noah," and "The Wolf of Wall Street." 

"I am really excited about the result. My target is to come first in designing the poster for 'Avatar' which will come out in 2017," Özman stated. He also detailed, "A prison theme will dominate the story and I have focused on that theme while designing this poster." 

What isn't clear is whether this means there will be humans kept in a prison or if the Na'vi have been captured and kept in prisons following the revolution seen at the end of the first film. There are fan speculations that the prison could also represent Jake Sully's (Sam Worthington) condition as he is now permanently in his Na'vi avatar. 

He and the other finalist are still designing their work, and Özman confirmed that the final results will be announced by the end of the year. However, it wasn't specified if the results would be privy only to the production team or if it would be unveiled to the public as well.

"Avatar 2" will see the return of Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, Zoe Saldana as Neytiri, and Sigourney Weaver, although she will reportedly portray a different character instead of reprising her role of Dr. Grace Augustine.

"Avatar 2" opens in 2017, with "Avatar 3" and "Avatar 4" opening in 2018 and 2019.