Avatar 2 and 3 Will Be Filmed Back To Back

And whether Grace returns depends “more on Sigourney’s agent than anything”, says Cameron

James Cameron has confirmed that Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 will be filmed back-to-back.

At a press launch for the Avatar Extended DVD and Blu-ray in the States last night he told journalists (including those for Coming Soon ), that, “Our plan right now is to do 2 and 3 as a single large production and release them a year apart. In order to do that, we have to refine our technical processes beyond the end of where we were finishing Avatar one a year ago. We need to future-proof ourselves out five or six years to the end of the third film.”

When asked where in this schedule he would fit the Cleoptra 3D project (with Angelina Jolie) he was rumoured to be considering, he responded, “I haven’t made any decisions about that, but here’s a decision: I’m not going to work on a film between Avatar two and three. It’s really a question of whether or not I do one between now and when we start 2 . We’re evaluating how much of our techwork and how much of our facility work it’s going to take. That’s not decided as of right now. I’d love to just start on Avatar 2 right now, but I don’t know if that’s possible or if it makes sense to wait.”

On the subject of whether Grace could return (which Sigourney Weaver hinted at the other day ), he added, “Who said she died? Nobody dies in a science fiction movie. Whether Grace lives or dies depends more on Sigourney’s agent than anything.”

Dave Golder
Freelance Writer

Dave is a TV and film journalist who specializes in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He's written books about film posters and post-apocalypses, alongside writing for SFX Magazine for many years. 

Latest in TV
The Punisher holding two machine guns in the rain
Daredevil: Born Again - Learn the bullet-riddled comic book history of the Punisher before he officially joins the MCU
Pedro Pascal as Joel in The Last of Us
The Last of Us is "better" than 28 Days Later, says movie writer Alex Garland: "This is so much more sophisticated and moving"
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in Andor season 2
Andor season 2 showrunner talks the much-anticipated Star Wars moment that we haven't seen on screen before: "It's a very significant part of our show"
Fallout
Fallout season 2’s dazzling and dystopian New Vegas is coming to life in a new leaked video
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor
The first three episodes of the best Star Wars show are now available to watch for free ahead of the Andor season 2 premiere
Penn Badgley and Charlotte Richie in You season 5
You season 5 trailer introduces Joe's new love interest and teases familiar faces in the final installment of the Netflix thriller
Latest in News
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2