Studio exec insists that Avatar 2 is really coming out in 2022

More than a decade after its release, James Cameron’s Avatar is still the highest grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office. Back when it was released in 2009, Avatar was an moviegoing event like few things that had come before it, thanks in large part to its innovative 3D features. For a while, everyone was talking about how 3D at the movies was going to be the new big thing…but no other 3D movie had anything even remotely close to the success that Avatar did.

Of course, 3D graphics alone do not a great movie make. Avatar also had an engrossing story about humans trying to get used to life on the jungle moon of Pandora, which is inhabited by the blue-skinned aliens known as Na’vi. It was a spiritual tale about the human exploitation of the natural world, about colonization and roots set against a lushly imagined alien world. It was glorious.

Anytime there’s a huge success like Avatar, studios immediately look to capitalize on it with sequels and spinoffs and what have you. So it’s notable then that 13 years after Avatar swept away audiences, we still haven’t seen a sequel to the film. But that’s not because the studio didn’t want to make one; Cameron has been telling fans for years that he’s hard at work on not just Avatar 2, but also Avatars 3 and 4.

However, audiences have grown somewhat numb after numerous delays. Will we ever see Avatar 2? At this point, I doubt I’m alone in feeling like no one is really holding their breath for it.

20th Century exec says that yes, Avatar 2 is coming out this year

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century president Steve Asbell discussed everything from the company’s plan to put upwards of 10 new streaming-only movies on Hulu by 2023 to how great it’s been since Disney acquired the studio in 2020. He spoke about the fact that Free Guy sequels are in the cards, but reiterated what Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy said earlier about waiting for the right script.

But the most interesting part was the information Asbell drops about Avatar 2. When asked whether the movie was actually going to stick to its December 2022 release date, Asbell responded without hesitation. “Yes, it will. For real. It’s going to blow people away. You’re not ready for what Jim is doing.”

Considering how long the wait has been for this sequel, are 20th Century or Disney concerned about getting audiences excited? “I can tell you that there is no better marketing apparatus in the business than the one at Disney,” Asbell said. “They will do an incredible job reigniting that passion for the original film.”

"This is not just a sequel, it’s a saga. And it’s a family saga. It will be compelling on its own, but it will also be extremely compelling to return to those characters and to see how they’ve evolved. It’s less about Avatar being a really big movie and more about how Avatar was a really important cultural moment for audiences. I don’t think it will be hard to convince people to come back."

Fair enough.

So there you have it, from the mouth of the head of 20th Century studios himself. Avatar 2 is definitely coming out this year. Of course, until Jake Sully and Neytiri are back in theaters, diving to the depths of Pandora’s oceans and exploring its jungles, we should remember that words are wind. After all, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard these sorts of assurances. But still, it’s cool to imagine that this may actually be the year we go back to Pandora.

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