When the Avatar sequels were initially announced, many knew right away that they would make for a massive undertaking. But director James Cameron and his cast and crew have been weathering the storm and pushing forward on the gigantic projects. And hard work definitely pays off, as Cameron has confirmed that filming has been completed on Avatar 2. The filmmaker also provided an update on the third installment in the franchise, which is sure to make fans very happy.
James Cameron recently stated that Avatar 2’s live-action filming is “100% complete” and that he and his crew in New Zealand are now focused on finishing live-action segments for Avatar 3. And it sounds like the latter film is close to being finished with principal photography as well:
The day we deliver Avatar 2, we’ll just start working on finishing Avatar 3. So where we are right now, I’m down in New Zealand shooting. We’re shooting the remainder of the live-action. We’ve got about 10% left to go. We’re 100% complete on Avatar 2, and we’re sort of 95% complete on Avatar 3.
While speaking with Arnold Schwarzenegger during the 2020 Austrian World Summit, James Cameron also noted just how lucky he and his team were to still be moving along, despite the obstacles the productions have faced. And if you’ve been keeping track, you know it’s been a long road.
The already-lengthy shoot began back in 2017 with work on the motion capture segments for both Avatar 2 and 3. By 2019, Cameron had wrapped on the mo-cap work for both films and live-action filming had commenced in New Zealand. The films were on schedule by the end of 2019, but production was forced to shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this, production was forced to remain in Los Angeles until further notice.
In early June, both James Cameron and producer Jon Landau returned to New Zealand to continue filming, with production getting ramping back up later in the month. Since work has restarted, fans have been treated to a number of cool photos that tease new technology that will be used by the characters as well as some of the film’s action sequences.
Plot details are relatively scarce at the moment, but we do know that Jake Sully and Neytiri will take center stage, as they seek to keep their new family together. Jon Landau has also teased that the group will explore different regions of Pandora along the way.
There seems to be a lot to look forward to when it comes to the Avatar sequels, and it sounds like James Cameron is definitely pleased with the work that’s been done so far. One can only imagine what other surprises he has in store for us when the films finally hit the big screen.
Avatar 2, the first of the four sequels, is set to open in theaters on December 16, 2022.
