"Avatar 2" director James Cameron has finally provided an update about his highly anticipated film, as well as the next trio of follow-ups that were green-lit half a decade ahead of their release.
Cameron has been working on all the upcoming movies all at once, and during the San Diego Comic Con, he talked a bit more about the process of putting together the plot and how it has gone so expansive it had to be told in a quadrilogy.
"The Avatar story arc was originally meant to be a trilogy, but I overwrite and my writers overwrote as well," the filmmaker and "Titanic" director told Variety.
"But basically the first of the sequels cloned itself and became two films, so now it's four films, and the studio's very happy with it. They have an opportunity to make more money but it's also an opportunity to spend a lot more money, too, so there's a clench factor," he went on to say.
Fans are excited about "Avatar 2" and the upcoming films due to the blockbuster success of the first one, which went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time raking $2.8 billion worldwide.
This is also the source of pressure Cameron feels that pushes him to make "Avatar 2" to be on par, if not better than the 2009 blockbuster hit.
Cameron will do the production of "Avatar 2" simultaneously with the three upcoming films. They will bounce around shooting one scene from one film and another from the other so as to make sure that the events in the movies line up.
"We're working across, essentially, eight hours of story," he said early this year to Famous Monsters, calling this ambitious endeavor "the most challenging thing I've ever done."
As for any clues about the plot for "Avatar 2," fans can expect Stephen Lang to reprise his role as Colonel Quaritch in the upcoming films.
Interestingly in the first film, he did not make it. However, it looks like Cameron has big plans for the character as he is expected to appear in all the upcoming "Avatar" films.
"Avatar 2" is slated for a 2018 release. "Avatar 3" is expected to be out by 2020. "Avatar 4" will follow by 2022 with "Avatar 5" rounding it all up by 2023.
