The president of 20th Century Studios says Avatar 2 is going to "blow people away." The film is the long-awaited follow-up to James Cameron's 2009 hit Avatar, which was the highest-grossing U.S. film in history until it was toppled by Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens in 2015. Avatar follows a former marine played by Sam Worthington who is helping a company that is attempting to mine the moon Pandora. He must use an experimental technology that puts him into the body of one of the moon's native species, the Na'vi, at which point he discovers the horrifying damage the company intends to inflict upon their civilization and environment.
James Cameron has long been promising a series of sequels to Avatar, and updates have come in drips and drabs over the course of the ensuing 13 years. Despite further pandemic-related delays, it does seem like Avatar 2 is destined to finally come out this year, on December 16, 2022. It is set to be followed by Avatar 3 on December 20, 2024, plus Avatar 4 and 5 if the first two sequels prove successful.
This week, 20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell sat down with Planet of the Apes 4, he revealed his personal opinion on Avatar 2, which he insists will not be delayed again. He is confident that "it’s going to blow people away," adding that "you’re not ready for what Jim is doing."
Avatar 2 is set to bring back many cast from the original film, including Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, Zoe Saldana as the Na'vi Neytiri, Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch, Giovanni Ribisi as mining boss Parker Selfridge, Joel David Moore as xenoanthopologist Dr. Norm Spellman, and Sigourney Weaver as Avatar program head Dr. Grace Augustine. The film will also add Vin Diesel, Edie Falco, Michelle Yeoh, Jemaine Clement, Cliff Curtis, and Kate Winslet to the ensemble. The film will focus on an old threat resurfacing and interrupting Jake and Neytiri's happy family life, forcing them to explore the depths of Pandora even further.
Avatar 2 is coming out so long after the first film that some doubt whether or not it will be as much of a success as its record-shattering predecessor. However, part of the reason the first film was such a box office smash was its debut of bleeding-edge CGI technology to create the world of the Na'vi. With a decade's worth of technological advancements at his fingertips, James Cameron is certainly cooking up a spectacle that will do everything it can to blow the original film out of the water.
Source: THR
