The production stoppage in March that affected the entirety of the film and TV industry hit projects of all different sizes. And perhaps the biggest project that was delayed by the stoppage is none other than the massive “Avatar” sequel shoot that was going on in New Zealand, led by filmmaker James Cameron. Already more than a decade after the record-breaking release of the first film, the filmmaker saw the release date for “Avatar 2” delayed yet again because of lost filming time due to the pandemic. But now that production has restarted, Cameron has updated fans on the progress he’s made and the milestone he’s already finished for the highly-anticipated sequel.
Speaking with Arnold Schwarzenegger, as part of the Austrian World Summit discussing climate change and politics, Cameron was asked to update the status of the “Avatar” sequels. And it appears that he’s about to wrap up filming, not just on the second film but also the third.
“Covid hit us like it hit everybody… We lost about four-and-a-half months of production,” Cameron said. “As a result of that, we’ve rolled around one more full year for a release in December of 2022. That’s been announced already. Now, that doesn’t mean I have an extra year to finish the film because the day we deliver ‘Avatar 2’ we’ll just start working on finishing ‘Avatar 3.’”
As for progress on both of those films, it appears that the filming isn’t just wrapping up on “Avatar 2,” but also on the third film.
“We’re 100 percent complete on ‘Avatar 2’ and we’re sort of 95 percent complete on ‘Avatar 3,’” he explained.
READ MORE: ‘Avatar 2’: James Cameron Says Global Pandemic Is “Putting A Major Crimp In Our Stride”
Of course, filming is just the first step in a huge process for bringing the “Avatar” films to the big screen because it’s not like you actually see the real actors on the screen. Instead, we’re seeing the actors become blue aliens that inhabit a distant planet. So, that’s obviously where the time-intensive, expensive work truly begins, as Cameron will use whatever brand-new technology he has developed to bring those performances to life.
As of now, “Avatar 2” is expected to be released on December 16, 2022.
