Official: Avatar Sequel Delayed Until 2017
 

Well unsurprisingly, the first sequel has been delayed until 2017.

I mention unsurprisingly because according to a member of Weta, they haven't even begun working on performance capture underwater and since all 3 movies will be filmed together...

Anyway, JC now has officially announced the delay:

The first had been due in late 2016, but he said the writing process had proved to be "very involved" and that the initial target date was probably too ambitious.

"There's a layer of complexity in getting the story to work as a saga across three films that you don't get when you're making a stand-alone film".

Here's the link.

I usually finish my posts with "Cheers!" but... not this time :'(

Frig.

Well...bummer, man.

But, as is often said, it's probably better in the long run if James Cameron really takes his time to make three films that will withstand the test of time itself. It's easy to tell he knows exactly what he wants and will do everything necessary to get right as he sees fit. That's gotta be better than quickly churning out something that will only leave a blemish.

"the initial target date", wasn't the first target 2014? sneaky

Disappointing to have another year tacked on to the target date, seems like that's happened many times since they first said there were going to be sequels. :P

Whenever I feel sad about it taking so long I just pretend like there aren't plans for any sequels at all and Avatar was just a standalone movie, so there's nothing to wait for. I dunno, it works for me. :D

Stop playing with my heart, JC! :(

:facepalm::hmm::P

I'm just treating the sequels as vaporware until I'm actually sitting there in the threatre watching them.

what comes to mind right now is the aging of these actors. Can the CGI cover up aging enough to wait this long?

I could tell Ney aged a bit when she was green. Still sexy as hell though.

Same here. Sometimes I get nervous thinking about sequels to Avatar cuz the original was the finest art displayed in front of my eyes. Will the sequels quench that lust for Avatar if they are different, or if they are delayed so long that the fire eventually extinguishes itself?

Well, what I always go back to re: sequels in JC's case is this:

Aliens
Terminator 2

So... he's got a pretty good track record as far as sequels are concerned, don't you think?

:D

Yea, it was a bit of a shot to hear that officially they were pushed back, but it WILL be worth the wait. at least they were pushed back one year instead of 2 this time ;)
As for the aging, I think with the Na'vi/ Avatars it can be overcome, due to the CGI, as with possible returning human characters, that could be interesting, depending on how long after the first movie the sequels take place.

The sequel was supposed to take place after directly after the first movie. But we don't know if that's still true. If the humans are going to return to Pandora, it stands to reason that it would take 12 years to return to Earth, inform management of what has transpired, develop a plan of action and then return with said plan. Avatar 2 could be "12 years later".

That could certainly account for any age discrepancy.

But then again, so could CGI.


Edit: If Max or Norm aren't in the sequel, the time gap could also explain why. While neither were particularly old, there are a bunch of different reasons either one of them could have died. It isn't confirmed that Dileep Rao will be in the sequel. Max is possibly the one person who was allowed to stay on Pandora who never had an Avatar.

I can't wait for the day that I am in the theater watching the sequels, that is all I truly know :)

There is a limited FTL radio capacity, so Earth might already be implementing a plan by the time they arrive.

(Also, I'm not sure anyone in media is paying attention to Dileep for them to say even if he was attached to the project.)

^This. :)