When last we checked in with James Cameron, Avatar 2 seemed to be on the right track to be all ready to be released around Christmas 2017. That all changed this week, as its now been confirmed that the anticipated sequel will not be ready for a Christmas 2017 release. 20th Century Fox, who will distribute the film and its two planned sequels, had neither a comment or a new release date to offer in response to the news.
Cameron is known for having a lengthy production schedule, but the follow-up to Avatar has become an almost mythic undertaking at this point. According to THR, Jim Gianopolus, Fox's CEO and chairman, has said that the director "works at his own pace," which would make him one of the only directors currently in the game that is allowed to work as they please. That's to be expected, however, considering the fiscal success of Cameron's blue-alien mega-hit, and he's proven to be one of the more consistent masters of modern big-budget entertainments over the last few decades.
One of the more obvious possibilities for the film's move of release date would be that Rian Johnson's Star Wars: Episode VIII was recently moved to a December 15th, 2017 release date. It's especially plausible considering that the news of that release date push just happened and there have been little to no reports of there being major shifts in Cameron's production schedule. As well as Avatar 2 is expected to do, no one really wants to share a month with the new Star Wars, doubly so considering The Force Awakens is taking almost all box office records behind the shed like Ol' Yeller. Regardless, hopefully we'll be able to see what Cameron is cooking up sooner than later, and maybe, just maybe, the film won't sound like the world's most expensive EPA ad.
