Production on movies and TV shows has been shut down worldwide for a while now, thanks to the coronavirus. But there are signs that things are jolting back to life. For example, the CW has set a new date to air the final episodes of Supernatural, which implies they plan to…y’know, make them. And film sets are open for business again in New Zealand, according to Deadline.
That’s good news for Amazon, which was filming a wildly expensive Lord of the Rings show there before the shutdown. Also wildly expensive: the four — yes, four — upcoming sequels to 2009’s Avatar, the movie about blue aliens that made an ungodly amount of money but that no one seems to remember with much passion. All together, the sequels will cost around $1 billion to make, so surely Disney and director James Cameron are eager to return to New Zealand and get the cameras rolling again.
Cameron said as much in a recent interview with Empire, where he also confirmed that editing and post-production work were being done remotely to keep Avatar 2, at least, on schedule. At the moment, Disney is hoping to release Avatar 2 on December 17, 2021; Avatar 3 on December 22, 2023; Avatar 4 on December 19, 2025; and Avatar 5 on December 17, 2027.
Good lord, they have their holiday schedules planned out through nearly the end of the decades. What if Avatar comes back and no one cares, Disney? What then? WHAT THEN?
Anyway, I’m willing to bet that Avatar 2, at least, won’t need to budge if production really is resuming in New Zealand soon. And while Disney and company work specifics, the movie’s official Twitter account continues to tweet out images from filming, like this gaggle of stars suspended in water that’s covered in little special effects balls:
From the set of the sequels: @ZoeSaldana, Sam Worthington, Kate Winslet, and Cliff Curtis taking a break from underwater performance capture for a quick photo!
— Avatar (@officialavatar) May 13, 2020
Fun fact: Much of the performance capture took place in this 900,000 gallon tank, built specifically for the sequels. pic.twitter.com/NSfqoZ6jXJ
I love the little blue pool floatie noodle. Don’t tell me you’ve never used one of those.
The original subtitle for Avatar 2, by the way, was “The Way of Water.” Water’s a big deal in it, so they have to make sure they have enough little waterproof CGI balls. I don’t know if they’re keeping the subtitles, though.
Anyway, is anyone out there itching to see the Avatar sequels, or is Disney throwing a billion large into the ocean?
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