'Avatar 2' Delayed Until 2016; Japan Earthquakes Likely To Blame

Posted 4:02 PM January 11th, 2012 by Binh Ngo

Avatar
We will have to wait until 2016 to revisit the world of Pandora. According to Bleedingcool.com, Producer Jon Landau said that Avatar 2 is still "four years away," but he promised the wait will be worth it because the movie will use state-of-the-art technologies to push the envelope on what can be done. Avatar 2 was originally scheduled for release on December 2014.

Directed by James Cameron, Avatar was released in December 2009 and it became the highest grossing movie ever, with a worldwide box office of $2.78 billion. The movie stars Sam Worthington as a paraplegic ex-Marine sent to Pandora to survey the moon for its rich mineral deposits. The atmosphere on Pandora is highly toxic to humans so they have to transfer their consciences into constructs called avatars in order to move around the moon. Once there, the ex-Marine became sympathetic to the plight of the blue-skinned natives called Na'vi. He joined forces with them to repel the human intruders on Pandora.

James Cameron hinted that the sequel will return to Pandora but will also feature other planets as well. This time, the movie will focus primarily on "ocean issues."

This plot point is probably at the heart of the delay. According to an insider, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan threw a wrench in Cameron's plans to explore the Marianas Trench for research material. Insurance companies won't insured the divers for fear of aftershocks. The Marianas Trench is the deepest part of the ocean and is very close to Japan.

Since it usually takes three to four years to produce an animated movie - Avatar is mostly animated - it's actually not surprising to hear about the delay.

Binh Ngo's Latest Blog Entries:

According to Vin Diesel, the seventh Fast & Furious movie will kick off a new trilogy, taking the series in a new direction. The next two movies after 7...
Legendary action choreographer Yuen Woo Ping is directing the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel, The Weinstein Company announced today. Titled Crouching...
Johnny Depp has found his co-conspirator in the mob thriller Black Mass, Deadline has learned. Joel Edgerton is joining the movie as FBI agent John Connolly,...
Writer-turned-director Drew Goddard made his directorial debut with Lionsgate's 2012 horror movie The Cabin in the Woods, which got raves and did decent at the...
Michael Pena may join up with his End of Watch director, David Ayer, in the WWII movie Fury, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. He would play a member of a...

More Avatar 3 News

Comments