James Cameron’s four planned Avatar sequels are now not only officially starting production but also have release dates confirmed for 18 December 2020, 17 December 2021, 20 December 2014 and 19 December 2025.

Cameron has been working on scripts for the ever growing franchise with co-writers Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friendman and Shane Salerno. Little is know about the plot or why exactly it will now take a further three films to conclude, though Cameron had previously hinted that the series would continue to explore Pandora and possibly it’s oceans. Given Cameron’s well known obsession with aquatic adventures it would not be a surprise to see him pushing the special effects laden adventure in an underwater direction.

The big question remains how much audience enthusiasm there will be for the franchise given the lengthy delay since the first film shattered box office records, thanks mostly to the inflated price of 3D tickets and the novelty value of groundbreaking special effects at the time. Cameron as always remains unashamedly confident and time will tell how well the four film gamble pays off.