Fear not, Avatar fans, James Cameron's four planned sequels are still on their way! And while the visionary director may have taken some time out of his busy schedule to witness his creation come to life in a more theatrical way, the franchise is still on pace to start rolling out new films starting in late 2018.

While in New York for the premiere of Cirque du Soleil’s "Toruk," which was inspired by the 2009 release and is set in the world of Pandora, director Cameron offered an update on the status of his Avatar sequels.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Here’s the latest as reported by Variety:

“I love some of the costumes and hairstyles, so we might create a resonance there where you actually see some of the things that you see in ‘Toruk’ come into the design of the films. We’ve got most of the sequel stuff already designed, but I like this idea of weaving back and forth between the two worlds, the live world and the film world.”

Cameron also shared some plot details:

“The storyline in the sequels really follows Jake and Neytiri and their children. It’s more of a family saga about the struggle with the humans. But thematically, ‘Toruk’ manages to land very very closely to the feeling of where the sequel stories are going.”


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At the moment, Cameron and his team are still planning to have sequel number one ready for Christmas 2018:

“We haven’t moved that target yet, but we will if we need to. The important thing for me is not when the first one comes out but the cadence of the release pattern. I want them to be released as close together as possible. If it’s an annual appointment to show up at Christmas, I want to make sure that we’re able to fulfill on that promise.”

For more on all things Avatar, be sure to take a look at some of our most recent write-ups below:

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Image via 20th Century Fox