'Avatar' Producer Clarifies James Cameron's Sequel Plans

Avatar rumors have been swirling as James Cameron maps out his plans for the immersive 3D sequels. As we reported weeks ago, Cameron had set up shop in New Zealand to stake out possible locations for his planned Avatar sequels. Then, Showbiz 411 mentioned that Sigourney Weaver was signed on to film not one, not two, but three Avatar sequels back-to-back.

“I just show up,” Weaver told the site, coyly.

Well, over the weekend, Avatar producer Jon Landau – who worked with Cameron on several key projects – clarified Weaver’s statement and laid out the Avatar timeline with a little more clarity.

Landau was speaking with The Courier Post about the upcoming 3D release of Avatar, which they hope will replicate the immersive feeling of exploring Pandora without having to leave our living rooms.

But in the interview, Landau clarified that Cameron is “doing two [movies] back-to-back, but not a third.”

So Avatar 4 isn’t exactly on the director’s radar at the moment. Which makes sense. Cameron is 58. He’d be 60 when Avatar 2 hit theaters in December 2014 (as planned), and 61 when part three follows up in December 2015. Those dates even seem a little presumptuous, given the fact that Cameron hasn’t begun filming and likely has only explored pre-production on the next Avatar films. Will he want to commit to the Herculean task of having to produce a third Avatar sequel after pouring his creative energies into back-to-back features?

We’ll see. If the films make as much as the original – still the highest-grossing film in the world – then Landau and 20th Century Fox will want 10 Avatar sequels. But time will tell how many Pandora stories Cameron has in his tank.