The Playlist

The obsessives' guide to contemporary cinema via film discussion, news, reviews, features, nostalgia, movie music, soundtracks, DVDs and more.

Interviews

Discuss: Are You Actually Looking Forward To The 'Avatar' Sequels? James Cameron Offers Minor Update

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
March 18, 2013 3:58 PM
|
16 Comments

News

There are exactly 2,782,275,172 reasons that Fox is going ahead with "Avatar" sequels -- yes, that is monumental worldwide box office for James Cameron's smash hit film. A technological wonder upon release, and responsible for ushering the onslaught of 3D movies to the multiplex, there is sound financial reason for the studio to press onward. And certainly, with the film moving units on home video (where it has already cycled through a couple different releases), it suggests that audiences are willing to return to Pandora. While the studio had initially set "Avatar 2" for a December 2014 release, followed in 2015 by part three, last summer it was revealed that wasn't going to happen, with 2015 said to be the earliest that any of the sequels might surface. And one reason why? Cameron is still writing the thing(s).

By Cain Rodriguez
|
September 10, 2012 9:40 AM
|
4 Comments

News

This Tuesday, one of the biggest movies of all time, “Titanic,” is finally heading to blu-ray and James Cameron is hitting the press circuit for the second time this year and he’s sounding off on Kate Winslet’s complicated relationship with the blockbuster film, as well as what’s in store after “Avatar 2” and “Avatar 3.”

By Drew Taylor
|
September 3, 2012 2:42 PM
|
1 Comment

News

What, exactly, is going on with James Cameron's "Avatar" sequels remains something of a mystery. Since the movie broke box office records in late 2009 (and reintroduced 3D in new and vital ways that few filmmakers have carried forward), it was largely assumed that there would be follow-up films and later it was confirmed that Fox would produce and release not one but two sequels, to be shot-back-to-back, tentatively scheduled for December 2014 and December 2015. But this summer Cameron made mention to the New York Times that "I'm making 'Avatar 2,' 'Avatar 3,' maybe 'Avatar 4.'" Well, not so fast. "Avatar" producer Jon Landau has gone on record as saying that Cameron's plan for a fourth movie might have been a little premature.

By Edward Davis
|
July 28, 2012 4:28 PM
|
10 Comments

News

The road to Pandora was never a short one. After announcing "Avatar" formally in the summer of 2005 (then known as "Project 880"), though publicly talking about its arrival as far back as the early aughts, James Cameron's ambitious 3D sci-fi fantasy picture finally landed in theaters at the end of 2009 (an 80 page treatment was written in 1994). It was the film's second "final" release date after initially being expected in May of 2009, and it was Cameron's first feature-length directorial effort in over a decade. But the prolonged gestation could not stop this juggernaut of a picture that is still the highest grossing film of all time domestically and globally ($2.78 billion and $600 million higher than the runner-up: Cameron's "Titanic").

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
June 26, 2012 9:03 AM
|
1 Comment

News

We suppose this isn't a total surprise. It was only back in May when the usually chatty James Cameron made it clear that he was only focusing on "Avatar" movies going forward, teasing at the possibility of a fourth entry in his new money-making, technology-busting franchise. "I’m in the 'Avatar' business. Period. That’s it. I’m making 'Avatar 2,' 'Avatar 3,' maybe 'Avatar 4,' " he said. And if this latest report is to be believed, not only is a fourth movie coming, he's also just gonna make all three of the "Avatar" sequels at once.

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
May 5, 2012 6:36 PM
|
10 Comments

News

James Cameron has sailed the "Titanic," gone into outer space with "Aliens" and traveled through time with "Terminator." But it looks like the director has committed a large portion of his upcoming cinematic career to the world of "Avatar," to the point where he says he's no longer going to even be considering new feature film projects.