Avatar 2 delayed? James Cameron on frustrations of shut-down

With movie production shut down all over the world due to the public health emergency requiring physical distancing, James Cameron’s production of his Avatar sequels is not the only TV show or movie that is facing possible delays to its release. But it might the be the most anticipated.

In a recent interview with Empire Magazine, Cameron discussed the shutdown’s impact on Avatar 2-5

“It’s putting a major crimp in our stride here,” said Cameron. “I wanna get back to work on Avatar, which right now we’re not allowed to do under state emergency laws or rules. So it’s all on hold right now.”

While visual effects artists are able to work from home, actual production, whether on set or location, requires groups of people being together. There is a ray of good news for Avatar 2 which is shooting is live-action elements mostly in New Zealand.

“We were about to shoot down in New Zealand, so that got pushed. We’re trying to get back to it as quick as we can,” said Cameron. “On the bright side, New Zealand seems to have been very effective in controlling the virus and their goal is not mitigation, but eradication, which they believe that they can do with aggressive contact tracing and testing.”

Even with shooting delayed a couple more months, Cameron sounded optimistic they could still meet the release date for the first Avatar sequel. Right now that’s December 17, 2021.

Although the 2009 Avatar has some issues (people still call it “Ferngully” in space), it was a large leap forward in technology with a compelling back story that’s just as important today as it was then. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what James Cameron and the rest of the team working on the Avatar sequels is putting together this time.

Will you be sad if Avatar 2 is pushed back even further? Let us know in the comments!