James Cameron’s long-awaited sequels to 2012’s Avatar have reached a major milestone. All filming involving the main cast members has been completed for both Avatar 2 and Avatar 3. Cameron announced the news himself in a video posted on the official Avatar Twitter account. The films have been in production since September 2017.
In the video, Cameron makes the announcement from the set as he praises the cast for their work. “They’re done now but they gave us incredible performances. And I can’t tell you how proud I am of the work that they did on these films.” Ultimately, the video becomes a trailer for one of Cameron’s other upcoming projects, Alita: Battle Angel.
Alita: Battle Angel has been a passion project of Cameron’s since he discovered the source material in the 1990s. Cameron tried to get an adaptation made in the mid-2000s but ultimately moved on to other projects. In 2015, Rob Rodriguez came aboard as director and, with Cameron still attached to produce, the film started gaining traction. The film, in classic Cameron form, is being billed as a game-changer due to its photo-realistic anime graphics. Whether or not that will translate into box office magic remains to be seen ahead of the movie’s February 14th release.
Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang are all returning to reprise their roles in the Avatar sequels alongside franchise-newcomer Kate Winslet. Avatar 2 will hit theaters on December 18, 2020, followed a year later by Avatar 3 on December 17, 2021.
Check out the full video below:
James Cameron took a (very rare) break from filming on the performance capture stage to record a message to Avatar fans!
Watch for a progress update on the sequels and a brand new trailer for his long-time passion project, Alita: Battle Angel. #AvatarFamily @AlitaMovie pic.twitter.com/Vz6bqp73DA
— Avatar (@officialavatar) November 13, 2018
