It’s hard to believe that Avatar came out all the way back in 2009. That’s 11 years ago! We’ve been waiting for a sequel ever since, but given everything that goes into bringing such a complex mix of special effects, AI, and actual actors, it makes sense that bringing it to life has taken time. Well, now there’s a bit of good news: James Cameron has confirmed that filming for Avatar 2 is finally complete!
- Like many movies, it was delayed due to coronavirus. Pretty much every television show and movie in Hollywood was shut down due to the pandemic, and Avatar 2 was no exception. Thankfully, as restrictions were lifted, production was able to get back on track and complete filming, albeit behind schedule.
- Sadly, that means Avatar 2 will hit theaters later. As Cameron revealed on a conference call with Arnold Schwarzenegger promoting the 2020 Austrian World Summit environmental conference, being behind has pushed back the movie’s release date too. “COVID hit us like it hit everybody… We lost about four and a half months of production,” Cameron said. “As a result of that, we’ve rolled around one more full year for a release in December of 2022. That’s been announced already. Now that doesn’t mean I have an extra year to finish the film, because the day we deliver Avatar 2 we’ll just start working on finishing Avatar 3.”
- Yes, Avatar 3 is already in production too. While they’re not quite finished with that one just yet, it’s good to know that the process is already started, meaning we likely won’t have another 11-year gap between Avatar 2 and the third installment. “Where we are right now, I’m down in New Zealand shooting. We’re shooting the remainder of the live action. We’ve got about 10% left to go,” Cameron told Schwarzenegger. “We’re a hundred percent complete on Avatar 2 and we’re sort of 95% complete on Avatar 3.”
- Cameron is pleased the movies are filming in New Zealand. It’s an incredibly beautiful country, after all. “We made the first film here in New Zealand, and it’s ranked either first or second best country in the world for its COVID response – sometimes Germany’s in the number one spot, sometimes New Zealand’s in the number one spot,” he explained. “But we’re actually able to operate. We’re at level 2 here right now, but we’re able to operate, we’re able to shoot, and we’re able to have a more or less normal life here.” He added, “We’re very fortunate, so I don’t see any road blocks to us getting the picture finished.” Good news!
