A new schedule in 20th Century Fox's movie timeline is hinting that "Avatar 2" may have finally nabbed its official premiere date.
As it turns out, the studio has been doing some strategic planning and it has opened up a slot for Dec. 21, 2018. The date has been set aside for an untitled Lightstorm Entertainment film, which is James Cameron's company that is responsible for distributing the upcoming "Avatar" films. Given that there are no other prominent projects in the distributor's lineup worthy of a hefty December opening, it was quickly assumed that it will be for the first sequel of the 2009 epic science fiction film.
For quite some time now, there has been a lot of back and forth in terms of the production of the budding cinematic franchise. "Avatar 2" was supposed to be out as early as 2014 but was delayed multiple times until recently, Cameron admitted that they have yet to lock in a release date.
Should this supposed premiere date ring true, the film will be sitting comfortably for its holiday 2018 showcase as there is no "Star Wars" film that is scheduled to premiere during that time. The Academy Award-winning director has been very forthcoming about not wanting to go head-to-head with the Disney property since its power in the box office is just simply too difficult to compete with.
"My original plan was to release them a year apart, but we're opening that up. If for no other reason than that I don't want to land on the same date as one of the 'Star Wars' sequels. That wouldn't be fair to them. [Laughs] No, that's just good business. I don't want to go head-to-head with 'Star Wars.' That would be stupid. And hopefully they won't want to go head-to-head with us," Cameron candidly told Collider earlier this year when asked about the release date that they have been eyeing.
That being said, it still is difficult to rule out the possibility that Lucasfilm and Disney could eventually move the first "Han Solo" spin-off film from its scheduled May 2018 release to December. After all, by that time, the series set in the "galaxy far, far away" has already made it a holiday tradition to release a new "Star Wars" film every December starting with last year's "Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens."
If that new scheme gets executed, it will be interesting to see if Cameron will push through with going head-to-head with the Alden Ehrenreich-led ensemble or if he will once again reschedule his film.
