James Cameron announces release date for 4 Avatar sequels

James Cameron made a surprise appearance at 20th Century Fox's CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas and announced four sequels for the 2009 hit Avatar. The filmmaker revealed that the Avatar world has expanded further.

"We began to bump up against the limitations for our art form," he said, explaining that he decided he would need more instalments to tell the whole story. The Titanic director also shared a release date for the movies; Avatar 2 is coming during Christmas 2018, Avatar 3 during Christmas 2020, Avatar 4 at Christmas-time 2022, and Avatar 5 for Christmas 2023.

He also shared a few details about the Avatar creatures and added, "I've been working the last couple of years with a team of four top screenwriters...to design the world of 'Avatar' going forward: The characters, the creatures, the environment, the new cultures."

"So far, the art I'm seeing is in pure imagination, really far beyond the first film. It's going to be a true epic saga. So together, we're going to continue to make this industry the greatest show on earth. That's what we do," he said. The storyline for the upcoming Avatar movies will focus on exploring more of Pandora's world and its creatures.

Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana played the lead characters Jake Sully and Neytiri in the first movie, which was set in the mid-22nd century. In the movie, Jake, a paraplegic marine, is dispatched to Pandora on a mission to infiltrate the local tribe of Na'vi, but later becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.

The filming date for Avatar 2 has not been announced.