The Principal Cast of the Avatar Sequels Has Finished Filming
It has been nearly a decade since Jake Sully ventured to Pandora, but Avatar is ready for a resurgence. Director James Cameron revealed yesterday this week that not only Avatar 2 wrapped principal filming, but perhaps also Avatar 3, 4, and 5.
Cameron took to Twitter to reveal the scheduling status of the Avatar films while promoting upcoming release Alita: Battle Angel. “Today we’re capturing some stunt scenes, but our principle cast are all wrapped — Sam, Zoe, Sigourney, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet. They’re done now but they gave us incredible performances, and I can’t tell you how proud I am of the work they did on these films,” Cameron shared with fans from the set.
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
If any franchise is going to plan four sequels in advance, the highest grossing film of all time has earned that right. Cameron doesn’t specifically say they have finished filming through the fifth installment, but he does speak in the plural of ‘films’ and it sounds pretty final. For some reason, this honestly fascinates me. We will be watching a film in 2025 that was shot seven years ago.
Of course, the greatest feat of Avatar was the masterfully artistic use of technology. It is also the most time-consuming part of making these movies. By the time the fifth sequel is completed, it is not unreasonable to imagine things will be even more advanced. That is assuming that they go through post-production in order, and not simultaneously like the manner in which they were shot.
Cameron has produced several of the most popular films in history including Titanic, The Terminator, and Aliens. Still, there is some impressive blind trust here. Instead of each installment having to prove their salt, Avatar was such an enormous hit that producers felt there was justification to greenlight five more. That requires an incredible amount of vision and some fortune telling.
The way people see movies is ever changing and tastes evolve too. Yet, there is clearly still an appetite for Avatar a decade after it debuted. In fairness, Marvel films are still dominating the box office a decade after Iron Man. An interesting not about the Avatar films, however, is that they are expected to have a largely recurring cast. Whereas the Marvel films rotate between leads, Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Kate Winslet will anchor the Avatar films.
The true test will come when Avatar 2 opens December 2020.
Featured Image: LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 22: Director James Cameron attends the 20th Century Fox & Earth Day Network’s “Avatar” Tree Planting Event on April 22, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
