‘Avatar 2’ is ‘comong along really well’ as motion capture done for some actors
Avatar 2 is deep into production and fans are uncertain of the sequels’ future amid the Disney-Fox merger, but during the promotion of February’s release of Alita: Battle Angel, executive producer Jon Landau offered an update to ComicBook.com.
“It’s coming along really well, actually,” Landau said of Avatar 2. “What we’ve learned from Alita was just this intense focus on one single character performance. The amount of detail that we know we’re going to have to bring to the screen for Avatar was just something that has kind of gotten a little bit higher now that we’ve gone through Alita.”
Avatar 2 is set to premiere on December 18 2020, and Avatar 3 will be released one year later on December 17 2021.
“We’re well into production,” Landau said. “We’ve completed our performance capture with Sam [Worthington] and Zoe [Saldana] and Stephen Lang and Cliff Curtis and Sigourney Weaver and a great group of young kids. We’ve been capturing not just on a stage but in a 500,000 gallon water tank, below the water, above the water. Jim [Cameron] has written into the scripts all of the stuff that people would expect from an Avatar sequel. A story that completes itself, an emotional journey in a world like you’ve never seen.”
Curtis will play Tonowari, the leader of the Metkayina, the reef people clan, in the James Cameron-directed movies – all of which are poised to take place under water.
As far as that merger… Landau doesn’t expect much of an impact on the Avatar franchise as its changes ownership hands.
“If Fox made the choice to sell we’re very glad it was to Disney,” Landau said. “We’ve had now a six year plus relationship with Disney building Pandora, the World of Avatar in Orlando. They got to know us, we got to know them. Bob Iger is thrilled with the collaboration that we’ve had in creating Pandora which is the highest rated land and attractions and food service, QSR, that they’ve ever had. So we are looking forward to a very exciting future with Disney.”
Analysts estimate Cameron will spend upwards of $1 billion if the fourth and fifth outings are confirmed.
Previously talking about the project, Cameron said: “The thing is, my focus isn’t on Avatar 2. It’s on Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5 equally. That’s exactly how I’m approaching it.“
Landau’s Alita: Battle Angel hits theaters on February 14, 2019.
