It has been a pumped up social media campaign for the upcoming ‘Avatar’ sequels as director James Cameron and the team continues to appeal to fans through various social media platforms. Thanks to Facebook, Twitter and the like, the public has now learned several key details about the next three ‘Avatar’ films.
First, ‘Avatar 2’ has already been pushed back for an official release in December 2017. Originally, the film was set to hit theaters in 2016, seven years after the first movie was released. However, Cameron pointed out that it will be difficult for them to finish writing the script and complete every phase before December 2016.
“There's a layer of complexity in getting the story to work as a saga across three films that you don't get when you're making a standalone film,” the award-winning director explained.
The other movies, ‘Avatar 3’ and Avatar 4’, will land in cinemas in 2018 and 2019, respectively, thereby putting the franchise to a conclusion a decade after ‘Avatar' was first released.
“We’re writing three simultaneously, and we’ve done that so that everything tracks throughout the three films,” Cameron shared. “We’re not just going to do one and then make up another one and another one after that.”
The first ‘Avatar’ film was recognized as the highest-grossing movie in box office history with a total overhaul of $2.8 billion following its release in 2009. Filming was carried out in New Zealand, and Cameron aims to film the upcoming sequels in the same locations.
Aside from the release dates, it has also been confirmed that several actors will be reprising their roles. These include Sam Worthington (Jake Sully), Zoe Saldana (Neytiri) and Stephen Lang (Colonel Miles). Interestingly, despite the death of xenobotanist Dr. Grace Augustine in the first movie, actress Sigourney Weaver will still appear in the sequel.
“Her [Weaver] character of Grace Augustine, as fans know, died in the first movie, so she’s playing a different and in many ways more challenging character in the upcoming films,” Cameron stated.
For fans interested in many new visual experiences, Tumblr and Pinterest have become main grounds for the ‘Avatar’ social media team to highlight the latest images pointing to the forthcoming sequels. Even Instagram and SoundCloud were used to offer fans the latest sounds that go well with these imageries.
In addition, the official ‘Avatar’ page on Twitter has announced that Na’vi badges will be awarded for users who actively interact with their page. News site Mashable has already been awarded with the first this February 4.
