Film News: James Cameron to Helm ‘Avatar 2,’ ‘Avatar 3’

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CHICAGO – How does a filmmaker follow up the highest-grossing movie of all time? For writer and director James Cameron, the answer is simple: make the movie a trilogy. Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman announced on Wednesday that Cameron has chosen “Avatar 2” and “Avatar 3” as his next film projects.

Work will begin on the scripts in early 2011, with production commencing later that year. The first sequel is already slated to open in December 2014, with the third film aiming for a December 2015 release. Both pictures will be produced by Cameron and Jon Landau for Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment. No official plot details were announced, yet Cameron promises fans that the sequels will further explore and enhance the mythology set up in their predecessor, 2009’s sci-fi/fantasy/adventure ‘Avatar.’ That film grossed nearly $2.8 billion at the worldwide box office, and is currently the top-selling Blu-ray disc of all time.

“It is a rare and remarkable opportunity when a filmmaker gets to build a fantasy world, and watch it grow, with the resources and partnership of a global media company,” said Cameron. “‘Avatar’ was conceived as an epic work of fantasy – a world that audiences could visit, across all media platforms, and this moment marks the launch of the next phase of that world. With two new films on the drawing boards, my company and I are embarking on an epic journey with our partners at Twentieth Century Fox.”

James Cameron’s next two films will be sequels to his 2009 box office phenomenon, Avatar.
Photo credit: Fox Home Video

According to Rothman and Gianopulos, “‘Avatar’ is not only the highest grossing movie of all time, it is a created universe based on the singular imagination and daring of James Cameron, who also raised the consciousness of people worldwide to some of the greatest issues facing our planet. We had no higher priority, and can feel no greater joy, than enabling Jim to continue and expand his vision of the world of ‘Avatar.’”

While Cameron was developing the story of “Avatar” for over a decade, he was also working on the technology that would enable him to create a wholly convincing artificial world, namely the exotic planet of Pandora. Inspired by the motion capture work in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Cameron enlisted the help of Joe Letteri and his team at Jackson’s WETA Digital to create the film’s groundbreaking 3D visual effects.

“Our goal is to meet and exceed the global audience’s expectations for the richness of ‘Avatar’’s visual world and the power of the storytelling,” said Cameron. “In the second and third films, which will be self contained stories that also fulfill a greater story arc, we will not back off the throttle of ‘Avatar’’s visual and emotional horsepower, and will continue to explore its themes and characters, which touched the hearts of audiences in all cultures around the world. I’m looking forward to returning to Pandora, a world where our imaginations can run wild.”

‘Avatar 2’ and ‘3’ are the latest in a series of collaborations between Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox. Their previous films have been considerably profitable: ‘Aliens,’ ‘The Abyss,’ ‘True Lies,’ and ‘Titanic,’ which was renowned as being the highest grossing film of all time…that is, until ‘Avatar.’

By MATT FAGERHOLM Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com