Avatar 2 and 3 Delayed??? The Effect on Avatarland at WDW...

[Captain Chaos]

According to Slash Films:

In True James Cameron Fashion, ‘Avatar 2′ Might Already Be Delayed

Posted on Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 by Germain Lussier

Not surprisingly, your ticket to Pandora might be redeemed a little later than expected. Producer Jon Landau was recently in London screening footage from James Cameron‘s upcoming Titanic 3D and said that Avatar 2 is four years away. Originally, the sequel was annoucned to be released in December 2014 with the third film December 2015, both of which are less than four years away. Does that mean Cameron’s films have officially been delayed? Maybe. Or maybe not. Read more after the jump.

Bleeding Cool was in attendance when Landau said this and first reported the quote. We’ve contacted 20th Century Fox for comment but have yet to hear back.

There are several ways to look at this news. The most obvious is the literal one, that Avatar 2 won’t be out until 2016, four years from now. However, Landau could have also meant 2015 because, if it was released in December 2015, it would still be in theaters January 2016 which is “four years away” from right now. Either way, if that’s the case, it wouldn’t be the first time. Cameron has never been one to hold fast to a release date. Titanic was famously delayed a bunch of times and the last thing he would ever do is rush something out before it was ready and good enough.

Then again, in the heat of the moment, Landau could have simply misspoken. We’ve just begun 2012 and I know it took me several months to get used to being in 2011. Maybe it was just a slip of the tounge or a simple math problem.

Whenever Avatar 2 does come out, though, that’ll be the one to pace the third film as Cameron has stated he’ll shoot both films back to back. Last we heard, he was still writing them and several of the main actors – like Sam Worthington – were just getting around to meeting with the director to discuss specifics.

Avatar 2 and 3 Delayed???

Now, the article doesn't state that the movies are confirmed to be delayed... And Jon Landau may have his dates a tad confused... But I couldn't help but think, if the movies ARE delayed, how will this impact James Cameron's World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom...

Discuss.. and let's keep it civil.. This thread isn't meant to bash Avatar or the theme park plans... It's meant to discuss what ramifications a delay of the movies may have on the theme park addition... We know a lot of you hate the idea... Let's keep that off this thread...

 

[Timekeeper]

Two thoughts:

1. The longer the films take, the longer Avatar will remain "relevant" in a pop culture kinda way. An extreme example of this is how the Star Tours attraction can only benefit from the Star Wars media and merchandising that continues to be released.

2. If the films take too long, the attractions could suffer in a Shrek 4D or T2 3-D kinda way, that is, the plot of the attraction has already caused it to be dated due to the subsequent film releases. Of course, Cameron is a pretty smart guy, so he'll likely detach the attractions in a Star Tours kinda way, so that they don't rely on any specific plot points from the films that would cause them to be instantly dated as the final film(s) come into fruition.

I would have thought that the scheduling for the Disney installment and film productions would have been kept somewhat in concert so that all may benefit from what is sure to become the ultimate PR campaign.

 

[Scuttle]

I think Iger and Staggs knew about this months ago. It makes more sense to release avatar 2 right before you open and then avatar 3 1-2 years after. Who knows that's my theory.

 

[Duckberg]

To me this interest in Avatar seems mainly in the minds of Disney brass

 

[Plutofan1]

To me this interest in Avatar seems mainly in the minds of Disney brass

Avatar's Worldwide Box Office: $2,782,275,172...I don't think it's just Disney brass.

 

[lt94]

I understand their might be legal action pending with camorn on storyline from a person that had the idea first

 

[captainkidd]

Avatar's Worldwide Box Office: $2,782,275,172...I don't think it's just Disney brass.

I don't see this as a continuing trend for this franchise. Many people (myself included) went to see it and weren't overly impressed. I enjoyed it the first time, but have no desire to see a sequel.

Also, take into consideration those numbers are GREATLY inflated due to this being the widest IMAX release ever, as well as the largest 3D release ever.

 

[SyracuseOrange]

I saw this headline this morning, and the only thing I could think is "this is great news for Disney!" Hopefully the area in DAK opens shortly after the release of Avatar 2; right when people are reminded about it, but before the franchise is done.

 

[wickedfan07]

I don't see this as a continuing trend for this franchise. Many people (myself included) went to see it and weren't overly impressed. I enjoyed it the first time, but have no desire to see a sequel.

Also, take into consideration those numbers are GREATLY inflated due to this being the widest IMAX release ever, as well as the largest 3D release ever.

This is true. Whether or not the masses actually liked the film after watching it, the studio still has their money. Obviously Avatar was quite popular at the time, but the only way to know if the sequels will be successful is to look at the sustained demand for the material. This why we only get attractions based on films that are 15-20 years old. The Little Mermaid was a hit in 1989, and on its own merits warranted a theme park attraction. however, Disney only got aeround to approving an attraction basded on it in 2007, some 18 years after it waas released because they could still tell there was a specific demand for that content. (Toy Story is another example.)

Are people still clamoring for Avatar related materials? Is Pandora an environment that people will want to visit again and again, like Radiator Springs will be at DCA? I've never seen the film so I can't personally say if I think Pandora is worthy of a theme park incarnoation. If Pandora is an engaging environment to visit and explore, it won't matter if there are sequels or how well they do at the box office. As long as Disney builds out a high-quality and immersive envionment, people will enjoy it. (See Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansions as exmaples of immerive attraction people enjoy in spite of not being originally associated with a film franchise.) I think they just have to make it general enough that a Guest could have never seen anything Abvatar-related and still appreciate and understand the area and its attractions.

With that said, I hope any delay in sequels doesn't delay the Avatar project because (1) the design shouldn't be directly related to any of their plots (like someone said above) and (2) Animal Kingdom sure could use an expansion.

 

[GLaDOS]

Now would be a good time to move on from this idea onto something else for DAK....

 

[Stefn15]

If and when they build this, people will still visit it. A new attraction will bring people in no matter what. And whenever those movies are made, it will attract more. I did see the movie and I loved the concept on how they pretrayed the new world and if they are able to bring that to life for people to see, I'm sure people will enjoy it. It's just a matter of people keeping an open mind about it and seeing the magic they are able to bring to life that you would only see in a movie. To me thats what Disney does.

 

[dcibrando]

I've said it before and I'll say it again... the next extension of Animal Kingdom needs to be DisneySea and SeaWorld - like.

 

[stitch2008]

This isnt really gonna have any effect at all on DAK. Pandora will still be built on schedule. It would be different if it was the first Avatar movie being delayed. But since everyone knows the planet, characters, story, idea, it should be still on pace.

 

[Phineas fo Prez]

Maybe, we will all get lucky and Avatar 2 and 3 will be delayed for a really, really, really long time and force Disney to change Avatar land all together! Hopefully into something people would actually want to visit?

 

[GrumpyFan]

Sounds like Cameron has a lot on his plate. I wonder where DAK's Avatar sits on his list. I think it's too early to say that this project will be be delayed since they haven't given any hard dates, but I have to wonder where it sits on his priority list. The next big D23 event should be an indication of where they're going with the project. If they don't have anything to show or make any mention of it, then we'll know. Until then, we just have to wait it out, and hope for some leaked plans or ideas.

 

[GrumpyFan]

Maybe, we will all get lucky and Avatar 2 and 3 will be delayed for a really, really, really long time and force Disney to change Avatar land all together! Hopefully into something people would actually want to visit?

It wouldn't be the first time that a big project was announced, then quietly withdrawn to fade into Never-built Land.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Maybe, we will all get lucky and Avatar 2 and 3 will be delayed for a really, really, really long time and force Disney to change Avatar land all together! Hopefully into something people would actually want to visit?

Here is the problem with what you are saying here: you have no basis of fact to say no one wants to visit Avatarland or Pandora or what ever Disney winds up calling it (probably something with 100 words in it, seems like that is how they name things today)...

The first Avatar did over $2 billion in business... That INCLUDES repeat viewings... So obviously there are fans out there... And even if Avatar 2 does half the business as the first movie, that is still $1 billion dollars... Of course no one should suspect Avatar 2 or 3 doing anywhere near $2 billion again... But that doesn't mean the movies will be utter failures...

And the argument that no one would go to Avatar-Pandora in DAK is baseless because Splash Mountain disproves that theory... I bet most, if not all of the regular guests who visit MK have no clue Splash Mountain is based on Song of the South... I will bet majority of the people who wait in the 100 minute long queues have never even seen Song of the South, but the ride is popular... As long as the land is greatly detailed and any rides that may come are great, the crowds will line up and visit this area of the park...

Providing this area ever gets built...

 

[Captain Chaos]

It wouldn't be the first time that a big project was announced, then quietly withdrawn to fade into Never-built Land.

And this is what I am starting to believe may happen here... Some of our resident insiders have stated how there are those in the company that do not want Avatar in the parks and that this was forced on them by Iger and Staggs... If the idea is really that unpopular inside the halls of the Disney company, then any delay in the next 2 movies may be the excuse Iger and Staggs need to delay or eventually/quietly cancel the project...

The idea of Avatarland may only truly live on here on Disney fan sites... The general public will probably have forgotten about the announcement (and probably have forgotten about it already, if they ever even knew about it)...

I, for one, hope it gets built... But I also wouldn't be surprised to see the project fade quietly away and replaced by something else...

 

[drew81]

And this is what I am starting to believe may happen here... Some of our resident insiders have stated how there are those in the company that do not want Avatar in the parks and that this was forced on them by Iger and Staggs... If the idea is really that unpopular inside the halls of the Disney company, then any delay in the next 2 movies may be the excuse Iger and Staggs need to delay or eventually/quietly cancel the project...

The idea of Avatarland may only truly live on here on Disney fan sites... The general public will probably have forgotten about the announcement (and probably have forgotten about it already, if they ever even knew about it)...

I, for one, hope it gets built... But I also wouldn't be surprised to see the project fade quietly away and replaced by something else...

I really hope so.

 

[twebber55]

Here is the problem with what you are saying here: you have no basis of fact to say no one wants to visit Avatarland or Pandora or what ever Disney winds up calling it (probably something with 100 words in it, seems like that is how they name things today)...

The first Avatar did over $2 billion in business... That INCLUDES repeat viewings... So obviously there are fans out there... And even if Avatar 2 does half the business as the first movie, that is still $1 billion dollars... Of course no one should suspect Avatar 2 or 3 doing anywhere near $2 billion again... But that doesn't mean the movies will be utter failures...

And the argument that no one would go to Avatar-Pandora in DAK is baseless because Splash Mountain disproves that theory... I bet most, if not all of the regular guests who visit MK have no clue Splash Mountain is based on Song of the South... I will bet majority of the people who wait in the 100 minute long queues have never even seen Song of the South, but the ride is popular... As long as the land is greatly detailed and any rides that may come are great, the crowds will line up and visit this area of the park...

Providing this area ever gets built...

dxer...i dont know what it is with you because i seem to agree with everything you say....i will be attending DAK more because of this new land.. if the land has a high quality to it people will go period...this movie is ideal for a great themed land which is very immersive