Avatar fans waiting for their next return to the world of the moon of Pandora will have a little longer to wait.
Disney has announced that they are moving back the release dates of second, third and fourth Avatar sequels. Initially, the untitled Avatar 3, which will be following up last year’s first Avatar sequel, Avatar: The Way Of Water, was set to release in December 2024, with the fourth and fifth installments of the franchise being shifted to December 2029 and December 2031 releases respectively.
Franchise producer Jon Landau confirmed the news on twitter, stating that it “takes time to bring to the quality level we as filmmakers strive for and audiences have come to expect.”
Each Avatar film is an exciting but epic undertaking that takes time to bring to the quality level we as filmmakers strive for and audiences have come to expect. The team is hard at work and can’t wait to bring audiences back to Pandora in December 2025. pic.twitter.com/DrFX01qzTa
— Jon Landau (@jonlandau) June 13, 2023
The change in release dates comes as part of a larger Disney announcement that sees a significant shakeup in the future of their Star Wars and Marvel film releases as well.
To indulge in a slight bit of cynicism, it should perhaps not be surprising that there is yet another delay in the rollout of director James Cameron’s sequels to his groundbreaking and box office record setting 2009 Avatar. The sequels have been subject to release date pushbacks almost from the moment they were first announced. It is hard to think that if Cameron’s original plan had been workable, audiences would have been anticipating seeing Avatar 5 this coming December. But then again, considering what a leap forward technical achievement Avatar: The Way Of Water was. the next films might be worth the wait.
