Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom
Rothman announced today that Academy Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron has
agreed to make Avatar 2
and 3 as his next films. Cameron, who had always viewed “Avatar” as the creation of
a new world and mythology, will begin work on the scripts early next year with
an eye towards commencing production later in 2011. Cameron will decide if he
will shoot the films back-to-back after he completes the scripts, but the
release of the first, as yet untitled sequel, is targeted for December 2014,
with the third film contemplated for a December 2015 release.
The Sequels will be produced by Cameron and Jon Landau for Cameron’s
Lightstorm Entertainment.
“’Avatar’
is not only the highest grossing movie of all time, it is a created universe
based on the singular imagination and daring of James Cameron, who also raised
the consciousness of people worldwide to some of the greatest issues facing our
planet,” said Rothman and Gianopulos. “We had no higher priority, and can feel
no greater joy, than enabling Jim to continue and expand his vision of the
world of ‘Avatar.’ This is a great day in the history of our company, and we
thank Jim, Jon Landau, Rae Sanchini and all of their team and all of our Fox
colleagues throughout the world, who have made this possible.”
Commented Cameron: “It is a rare and remarkable
opportunity when a filmmaker gets to build a fantasy world, and watch it grow,
with the resources and partnership of a global media company. ‘Avatar’ was
conceived as an epic work of fantasy – a world that audiences could visit,
across all media platforms, and this moment marks the launch of the next phase
of that world. With two new films on the drawing boards, my company and I are
embarking on an epic journey with our partners at Twentieth Century Fox. Our
goal is to meet and exceed the global audience’s expectations for the richness
of ‘Avatar’s’ visual world and the power of the storytelling. In the second and
third films, which will be self contained stories that also fulfill a greater
story arc, we will not back off the throttle of ‘Avatar’s’ visual and emotional
horsepower, and will continue to explore its themes and characters, which
touched the hearts of audiences in all cultures around the world. I’m looking
forward to returning to Pandora, a world where our imaginations can run wild.”
“It is very exciting to be teaming again with our partners
at Fox to give audiences the opportunity to return to Pandora,” said producer Landau. “With the first movie, Jim only scratched the surface of the
stories he wants to tell and the creatures and world he wants to create. Now we
will continue his vision.”
Avatar 2
and 3 will mark Cameron’s latest collaborations with Twentieth Century
Fox, a relationship that spans 25 years and marks one of the most successful
filmmaker-studio alliances in motion picture history. Cameron and Fox first
joined forces in 1985 for Aliens, which became a sci-fi classic. Next
came The Abyss, which revolutionized visual effects technology; and True
Lies, a blockbuster starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1996, Fox
greenlighted Cameron’s Titanic, which became the most successful film in
history, and won a record-breaking eleven Academy Awards, including Best
Picture.
