It has been almost a decade since Avatar hit theaters. That means it has been almost a decade since James Cameron began making promises about sequels to Avatar. Initially described as a trilogy, this promised saga has ballooned to five films in recent years. That is, if any of them actually ever get made. Over the weekend Fox announced a new round of dates for the four Avatar sequels and they have all predictably been pushed back once more.
I’m not an Avatar hater. I don’t consider the 2009 film to be one of Cameron’s best efforts, but I also quite enjoy it, even in its extended form. I never particularly felt that it warranted a sequel, let alone four of them, but I will give them a shot. If they get made, of course. I say “if” because of the myriad of Avatar product promises made since 2009, Cameron has only delivered the DisneyWorld park expansion. The promised prequel novel is nowhere to be seen. The promised animated series is nowhere to be seen. The promised sequels are continually postponed.
Betting against James Cameron is typically a foolish thing to do. Many thought his Titanic film would be a box office calamity, only to be proven wrong on a massive scale. The same was said of Avatar, only for those to be proven wrong yet again. Odds are Avatar 2 will be a hit whenever it finally arrives. That said, with him making no measurable effort to keep this brand alive over the past ten years, I do have to wonder if there’s a market for Avatar 3-5. Unless Avatar 2 manages to get the cultural juices flowing again, Fox could be staring down the barrel of increasingly diminishing returns if the filmmaker ever delivers on his follow-up plans.
Regardless, here are you current release years for these films…
Avatar 2 (2020)
Avatar 3 (2021)
Avatar 4 (2024)
Avatar 5 (2025)
All are receiving mid-December dates during their respective years. I wouldn’t bother committing them to memory, however. Chances are I’ll be writing about their postponement once again in 2018 or 2019. One wonders how many more delays Fox will tolerate. In the meantime, I’ll be over here still pining for Blu-ray releases of The Abyss and True Lies.
