Fans of James Cameron’s movies are used to waiting. Since 1990, he’s only directed four (non-documentary) films: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, Titanic, and a little movie called Avatar. But the wait between the second highest-grossing movie ever (until the re-release) and the sequel, let alone sequels, is extra patience-testing.
Cameron originally aimed for Avatar 2 to come out in 2014 — six years later, we’re still waiting, although it has an official release date of December 17, 2021. Official for now, at least, considering the entertainment industry is shut down due to the ongoing pandemic. But in an interview with Empire, Cameron said his blue dudes and gals are still on target to hit movie theaters (remember movie theaters) next year.
“I want to get back to work on Avatar, which right now we’re not allowed to do under state emergency laws or rules. So it’s all on hold right now. We were about to shoot down in New Zealand, so that got pushed. We’re trying to get back to it as quick as we can,” Cameron said, adding, “On the bright side, New Zealand seems to have been very effective in controlling the virus and their goal is not mitigation, but eradication, which they believe that they can do with aggressive contact tracing and testing.” Must be nice.
Cameron believes there’s a “very good chance” that shooting will be delayed by months, but “we can still do it. So that’s good news. We’ve got everybody – everybody at Weta Digital and Lightstorm – working from home to the extent that that is possible.” For a famed control freak, Cameron sounds surprisingly optimistic that Avatar 2 won’t be delayed, like every movie that was supposed to come out this spring and summer. Is it misguided optimism? Maybe, but pity the fool who tells James Cameron that. Cameron watches Michael Jordan in The Last Dance, and laughs at #23’s lazy work ethic.
(Via Empire)