Not to be confused with a back-to-back filming schedule, the next four Avatar sequels will be shot side by side. A scene from the second film today perhaps, a scene from the fourth tomorrow, and then back to a scene from the third film the next day. The scenario I’ve just mentioned isn’t literally what the Avatar sequels’ filming schedule looks like, but that’s what James Cameron means by calling it a simultaneous shoot. Principle photography for the four films has begun just yesterday.
That said, how many people are actually excited about the prospect of at least four more Avatar films? If the results of our poll over at our YouTube channel are any indication, only about 20% are entirely on board. And while the sample size of the audience of moviegoers is relatively small (at just over 250 participants), our demographics are geared towards a more geek culture savvy audience, a culture that currently dominates the box office numbers. That means, of the people who are most willing to spend time and money on this kind of franchise, very few actually care.
And there are a number of reasons this news is garnering such a poor response. 1) The sequels are too late, having not struck while the iron was hot. 2) Nostalgia for the franchise hasn’t sunk in, and probably never will. 3) The moviegoing landscape has changed dramatically. And 4) the film was more of an impressive display of 3D technology than it actually was a solid film.
UPDATE: The four sequels have a combined budget of $1 BILLION, meaning the budget allotted to each is more or less $250 million.
What are your thoughts? Is 4 films too many? Because it’s the highest grossing film of all time, does that necessarily mean it needs to have a sequel? And is it too late to do so?
Geekritique
There’s high probability the first sequel won’t be as successful as expected and then the others…what? Will got cancelled?
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All I have to say is it’s about time, I almost gave up hope that it would ever start filming.
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From what I understand, Cameron is trying to build a universe like Star Wars which could honestly be quite awesome or really forced if it isn’t executed right. I really hope it’s the former but it most likely will be the later. Four movies does seem a little too much and I have no idea how or even why that many movies is need for this story at all. But who knows, maybe he’ll surprise us all.
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I was honestly surprised to hear that Cameron hadn’t given up on Avatar after all this time. And while Cameron is one of my favourite directors, I’m not enthusiastic about this, for all the reasons you mention. The original Avatar was good, but not great.
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I disagree with the other commenters. I don’t have any faith in James Cameron, I think he’s too hit and miss as both a writer and director. I think taking a lucrative, but mediocre movie and extending it into a 5 film franchise is a bad idea. My prediction is that Avatar goes down as a franchise similar to the Transformers movies. A bunch of meh to bad films with a lot of visual style, but very little actual substance.
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This is fantastic news! Hopefully it will be as epic as Starwars or the modern Planet of the Apes. They are going to have to come up with an incredibly strong story though!
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It really depends on the strengths of the films. I can honestly say that I always have faith in Cameron as a film maker and so far he has never disappointed me in any way. So I am actually excited for this.
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I like to take a wait and see approach. I’ve never seen this done before and fliming all for at once could help maintain a cohesive and interesting story across sequels which is a big problem with sequels today. Cameron has a good track record so I’m not going to dismiss this move quite yet
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4 more Avatar films? I think Cameron is going a bit OTT with this. The original Avatar was a spectacular looking film, but I don’t think there’s the mileage in the story to spin it out over four sequels.
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4 is far too many. I think that Cameron and the studios mistake the box office success of the original for long-term franchise potential. The reason that everyone went to see Avatar was because the 3D was spectacular and it was all visually delightful. There wasn’t a particularly great story, but the sights were so spectacular that there didn’t have to be. That can sell one movie, but it probably can’t sell four.
This is a big risk on the part of the studio to do four movies at once, but eh, they’ll probably make money I suppose.
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