2009's blockbuster hit, "Avatar" is set to come back for three more sequels in its 3D glory, according to New York Times. Director James Cameron has reportedly worked on all three movie's scripts at once. Fox, however, has hired different sets of writers to collaborate with the director for each sequel.
Amidst his hectic schedule, the highly acclaimed director believes that "Avatar 2," "Avatar 3," and "Avatar 4" should be written and shot simultaneously. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times Hero Complex Film Festival. , the adventurer-slash-director called this new process an "experiment."
"We set ourselves a challenge of writing three films at the same time." Cameron said , "And I could certainly write any one of them but to write three in some reasonable amount of time - we wanted to shoot them together so we couldn't start one until all three scripts were done and approved. So I knew I was going to have to 'parallel process' which meant I would have to work with other writers."
The "Prometheus" director also talked about drawing inspiration from his co-writing experience in the past. "And the best experience I had working with other writers was in television when I did Dark Angel. The television room is a highly collaborative, fun experience," he said.
Cameron reportedly worked on 1,500 pages of notes about all of Avatar's information-clans, animals, biomes, and more-for a year. Everything he gathered however, was only the tip of the iceberg, therefore, Fox enlisted the help of the movie world's best writers.
According to the New York Times, the first sequel will be written by husband and wife team Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver who are bet known for their work on "Rise Of Planet Of The Apes." "Avatar 3" on the other hand, will have Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) as the scriptwriter. "Avatar 4" is being written by Cameron's former colleague, Shane Salerno (Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem ).
All four writers met up for a brainstorming session with the "Titanic" director last year at the MBS Media Campus, a Manhattan Beach California studio. Cameron expects to shoot much of the special effects there. The production, however, will film much of the live action scenes (with a budget of an estimated $400 million) in New Zealand.
"Avatar 3" is due to come out in 2017 , following "Avatar 2's" release date in December 2016, while "Avatar 4" will have to wait until 2018.
