It's been seven years since James Cameron's 2009 blockbuster champion, "Avatar," but the sequel is now officially beginning production. According to a report from My Entertainment World, "Avatar 2" will enter production this April in order to hit its late 2017/early 2018 release window.
"Avatar 2" was initially set to release by Christmas 2017 but that changed when production and script delays impeded the film from moving forward and also when Disney suddenly moved "Star Wars: Episode VIII" to Dec. 15, 2017.
As pointed out in a report from Screen Rant, "Avatar 2" was always planned to begin filming by spring of this year, which may indicate that the only reason the film was pushed back from its designated December 2017 release date was to avoid direct competition with "Star Wars: Episode VIII."
"Avatar 2" will once again be starring Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana. Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang are also set to return but may be playing different roles given that their characters died in the first film. Numerous rumors have circled the film's development such as the plot involving an underwater prison and new areas in Pandora.
However, the reports also point out that there are other big feature films scheduled to enter production right about the same time as "Avatar 2." The first in line is "Wolverine 3," which will begin filming by April 25 in New Orleans and New Mexico.
Roughly around the same time in April, director Ridley Scott will begin filming his follow up to "Prometheus," now titled "Alien: Covenant." Back around circa 2010 and 2011, it was stated that James Cameron convinced Ridley Scott to return to the sci-fi genre, which eventually led to Scott releasing "Prometheus" in 2012.
Other films scheduled to begin production at roughly the same time include "Blade Runner 2" and "Transformers 5." "Ghost in the Shell" and "Fifty Shades Darker" begin production this month.
