The long-awaited sequel to James Cameron's "Avatar" will be hitting the theaters by the end of next year.
According to the Christian Post (via Master Herald), the 2009 hit has three follow-up films scheduled. The second installment of the sci-fi film is expected to hit cinemas by December 2016 with two other sequels arriving annually until December 2018.
The sequel to the box office success is a long-time coming. The first film broke records as it grossed nearly $3 million globally. The storyline is expected to follow the events of the first film.
"Three years after the first film, 'Avatar 2' follows the lives of Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) as they explore Polyphemus' other moons. Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), whose human body died in the first film, will be making a return appearance in all three of the sequels.
According to creator, James Cameron, an extensive part of 'Avatar 2' involves footage shot underwater, and viewers should expect the humans to make a dangerous nuisance of themselves with major antagonist, Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) to be present in 'Avatar 2' despite his character being killed off in the first movie."
The publication continued to add that the sequels, to be filmed in New Zealand, will be shot back-to-back with the final installment set to be a three decade prequel for the entire franchise.
"Avatar" Sequel Production Details
Per Crossmap, while "Avatar" had graphics that set itself apart from other films, this time around, Cameron is making use of more advanced technology to film the sequels.
Using a virtual camera tracking system called "SolidTrack", the real-time and markerless recording technique offers additional flexibility for film makers. "This will make it easy to make something exist somewhere in the film without the hassle of setting up greenscreen," wrote the publication. Cameron and his team are working with company Solid Anim.
In a previous interview with ABC, recalled Crossmap, Cameron explained that production is complex.
"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 stand-alone film. [My team and I are] writing three simultaneously. And we've done that so that everything tracks throughout the three films. We're not just going to do one and then make up another one and another one after that. And parallel with that, we're doing all the design. So we've designed all the creatures and the environments."
All the remaining sequels are produced by Cameron along with Jon Landau.
Returning cast include Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang.
