Avatar's first sequel delayed until late 2017

[Cosmic Commando]

I'm just looking at it from a cost standpoint. If they spend the money to film all of the footage for 4 movies the bulk of the costs (outside of marketing) are sunk. They still need to edit the movies and add some additional effects but those costs are negligible compared to the money lost by not releasing the film in theaters. Major tent pole releases spend $200M+ on marketing these days but If the 2nd film bombs they could still release films 3-5 in theaters with limited marketing budgets and hope to generate interest through word of mouth and social media marketing instead of buying TV spots. They would still likely make a whole lot more than going straight to DVD with the same films.

Especially with these movies, the cost of getting the actors in front of the cameras is just the beginning. With Jake fully in his avatar body, there could be even less "human time" than in the first movie. And all the environments are CGI.

 

[TyTrap]

I feel like Avatar 2 and 3 will be in theater, but the rest could get released to Amazon, Hulu, or Netflix (whichever company comes out with a high-def game-changing 3D platform first)

I don't think James would settle for anything less than theatrical releases for all of his films. Home releases are important for after the theatrical run but I believe his main intentions are for the films to be watched on the big screen.

 

[No Name]

I was under the impression that they were filming 2 and 3 first, then 4 and 5 later. Why else would the release dates be 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025. Why the gap between?

Anyway, I think making Avatar sequels is a poor decision.

Whats the over/under on how many of these movies end up having theatrical releases?

(I'm calling the line at 2.5, with a firm bet on under.)

I'm betting on under as well.

 

[twebber55]

I was under the impression that they were filming 2 and 3 first, then 4 and 5 later. Why else would the release dates be 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025. Why the gap between?

Anyway, I think making Avatar sequels is a poor decision.



I'm betting on under as well.

betting against jc huh?

 

[DisneyRoy]

betting against jc huh?

Yea. That's never a smart move.

 

[WhatJaneSays]

betting against jc huh?

I'm not betting against him, I'm betting that he is very willing to take his story in an unconventional direction.

That's why I think we'll only see the first 2 of the potential sequels as theatrical released movies. The others will likely end up as something different, depending on what ever technology he decides to back this go around. The series is literally about becoming an "avatar" so if some other avenue of release furthers that story telling he'll try to make that happen.

 

[drcasey]

I feel like Disney could have done something so much cooler with that land in Animal Kingdom! Pandora has gotten pretty good reviews from what I've seen, but Avatar just seems so irrelevant to me

 

[PorterRedkey]

Sigourney Weavers says that there is a good reason to make 4 sequels in this article. Looks like the movies will be filmed in 2 shifts.
http://collider.com/avatar-sequels-filming-sigourney-weaver/#images