'Avatar 2' And 'Avatar 3' Release Date Set In December Of 2022 And 2024, James Cameron Confirms

"Avatar 2" release date was pushed to December 16, 2022, by Disney earlier in July owing to delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the movie is now 100 percent complete and is in the editing mode at the moment, as per the writer of the films, James Cameron.

During a recent interview with his Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cameron revealed that the filming for "Avatar 2" is 100 percent complete and the filming for "Avatar 3" is nearly 95 percent complete. "Avatar 3" is slated for a 2024 release.

Cameron further stated that the Avatar team is currently working on shooting the remainder of the scenes pending for the third movie in the franchise. The writer explained how the COVID-19 pandemic brought everything to a standstill and pushed the production to “about four and a half months.”

It “hit us like it hit everybody, it hit us hard,” he explained while adding that the "Avatar 2" release date was pushed by almost a year due to the lockdowns owning to the coronavirus pandemic.

The fourth and fifth pictures are due for release in 2026 and 2028, respectively.

After sharing an update concerning the production of "Avatar 2" and "Avatar 3," Cameron praised the efforts of the New Zealand government in controlling the coronavirus pandemic in the country. New Zealand is the production site for the famous sci-fi franchise.

“We’re very lucky in that we chose this as our production site years ago. We made the first film here in New Zealand and it turns out to be ranking first or second best country in the world for its COVID response,” he said.

He further explained how New Zealand was declared COVID-free in June before fresh cases were reported again in August. It raised a new alert but since then, it has downgraded.

Cameron returned to New Zealand in June when the lockdown restrictions were lifted and the production began again after four months.

“We’re able to operate. We’re able to shoot and have a more or less normal life here. We were very fortunate, so I don’t see any roadblocks to us getting the picture finished, getting both pictures finished,” he told Schwarzenegger after explaining how a team of 55 crew members was allowed to enter the country to finish the production for the two sequels.