When it was revealed earlier this week that Disney had moved Star Wars Episode VIII from May 2017 to December 15th that same year, it became clear that Avatar 2 (which is set to be released ten days before that) would have to budge, and well, it seems it already has!
The first of three sequels in the works from James Cameron – the plan apparently is still for him to shoot all three back to back and release one after the other – reportedly won’t be ready in time for its original December 2017 release, meaning it’s been delayed once again.
Of course, this is no real surprise. A big part of why Avatar succeeded is because it brought back 3D in a way which revolutionised the format, but countless crappy conversions and the fall of 3D TVs means that this follow-up is unlikely to go anywhere near $2 billion. Squaring off against the next Star Wars would have pretty much killed it dead at the box office then!
A specific reason for the delay hasn’t been revealed and preproduction is still moving ahead, but it was only last month that Cameron said that a 2017 release was still the plan. What this delay means for the other two movies (set for release in December 2018 and 2019) is unclear. However, this coming so soon after that Star Wars news is hardly a coincidence!
Will the Avatar sequels ever happen? It’s a shame Cameron is devoting so much time to them, but Avatar took five years in total, so chances are they’ll happen…eventually!
