Cameron will shoot Avatar 2, Avatar 3, and Avatar 4 back-to-back, earning significant tax breaks and subsidies from the New Zealand government. Even so, Cameron says the cost for all three movies will come in under $1B, which is a lot but probably a worthy investment considering the first film made nearly three times that amount in 2009.
In a conversation with the AP, Cameron poke about the path the sequel will take, revealing they'll go beyond just the focus on lead character Jake Scully....
"It was very Jake-centric. His story seen through his eyes. We spread it around quite a bit more as we go forward. It's really the story of his family, the family that he creates on Pandora. His extended family. So think of it as a family saga like 'The Godfather.'"
Cameron also commented on the rumors Avatar 2 will be entirely set underwater, calling those claims inaccurate....
"There's a fair bit of underwater stuff. It's been inaccurately said that the second film takes place underwater. That's not true. There are underwater scenes and surface-water scenes having to do with indigenous ocean cultures that are distributed across the three films."
Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, and Stephen Lang will be back to reprise their roles, with filming to begin next year for Avatar 2's release in December 20156. Avatar 3 will follow in December 2017, wrapping up with Avatar 4 in December 2018.
