Avatar 2’s producer says the scripts delayed the Avatar sequels, not the tech

The Way of Water: AvatarThe project was notoriously late. James Cameron, writer-director first revealed the sequel to his hit 2009 film. AvatarIt was originally released in 2010 with the goal to release it in 2014, and then follow up in 2015 with another Avatar movie. But every time the release date got close, Cameron would announce a new delay, postponing the releases by another year — or several. This was all before the COVID-19 outbreak, when production stopped and caused delays to movies and scheduling shuffles.

Many times, the reasons for delays are vague. Cameron has talked about the “logistical and technical elements” involved in making several movies back to back, particularly after the announcement that two more sequels would follow Avatar 3Five movies total. These are the challenges of filming The Way of Water: Avatar, The film’s unusual production challenges can be seen early in behind-the-scenes footage.

However, Polygon recently interviewed me. Avatar And The Way of Water: Avatar producer Jon Landau says that the production and release delays weren’t primarily driven by the stakes of bringing aquatic Na’vi and their detailed whale friends to life.

“We did not have to hold here for technology,” he said. “I think the first Avatar proved to us that we could be the impetus to push technology to where we needed to go.”

He claims that the delay was caused by the determination of the filmmaking crew to complete the scripts for each of the four films. AvatarFinalized sequels before filming Avatar 2 even started.

“We felt that this project was about getting the story right,” he said. “You would never build a house until you had the blueprint to build from. The blueprint is the script. So we wanted to wait to all four of those were there.”

The casting of child actors, who play the main protagonists in the film, may have influenced this decision. The Way of Water: Avatar. The movie continues the story of space Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), who takes on the avatar body of a Na’vi, a 10-foot felinoid native of the planet Pandora, and eventually takes a local Na’vi woman, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) as a mate. There’s more! Water is the Way, the focus partly shifts to their biological children, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss); their adopted teenage daughter, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver); and the kids’ young human friend, Spider (Jack Champion).

Image: 20th Century Studios

This seems very likely Avatar 3 — which was shot back-to-back with Water is the Way — will continue the story threads left open at the end of Avatar 2And that Avatar 4 will initially continue the kids’ story, then jump forward in time to their adulthood. Cameron has confirmed that the “first act” of Avatar 4 has already been shot, even though there’s no guarantee that the story will continue past the third movie. Landau revealed the reason:

“There were logistic reasons, it turned out, why we needed to shoot not just movie two and movie three, but the first act of part four now. We couldn’t wait to do it later,” he said. “So we wanted to get that all in place. And then we felt we could be the impetus again to push technology to tell these stories.”

Landau confirms that “the Sully kids” will be the throughline for the Avatar films, and the means for introducing new generations to new settings in Pandora, like the coastal area where much of Water is the Way takes place.

“They’re in many ways our entry into this new world of Pandora that we go to,” he said. “It’s a family story. But it’s not just told from the parents’ perspective. It’s also told from the kids’ perspective — kids who are struggling to find their place in life. One child feels alone. The other one questions her heritage and origins. These are things people struggle with today — it makes it relatable. It’s the Sully kids that we go on our first swim experience with, at the reef. It’s their view. And now, as we graduate through the movies, we’re gonna grow up with them as we go on in the saga.”

The Way of Water: Avatar It is now in theatres. With movies 4, 5 and 6 planned for 2026, 2028 and 2028 respectively, the third film is due to be released in December 2024.