Though 20th Century Fox ensured that James Cameron’s next film after Avatar would be a sequel to the highest grossing film of all time, the director has been taking his sweet time getting the project going.  Cameron’s been busy diving to the ocean’s deepest point and documenting it in the film Deepest Challenge, but it appears he’s finally getting ready to return to Pandora.  We previously heard that the director would probably be filming Avatar 2 and 3 at the same time, and latest word from the filmmaker was that he was “in the Avatar business period,” meaning he’s only interested in making Avatar films from here on out.  At the same time, Cameron first dropped word about a possible Avatar 4, and now star Sigourney Weaver claims that the director will film all three Avatar sequels at once.  Hit the jump for more.avatar-2-sequels-james-cameron-sigourney-weaverRoger Friedman over at Showbiz 411 recently caught up with Weaver who broke the news that the three Avatar sequels are on the docket for her in the near future:

She goes right into a new Christopher Durang play for a short run at Lincoln Center. Then she films Avatar 2, 3, and 4 with James Cameron. That’s right: they’re making three sequels to the blue 3D phenom all at the same time. Weaver says she has no idea how long it will take, or how it’s going to work. “I just show up,” she said.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

So when Cameron said he’s only in the Avatar business for the foreseeable future, he wasn’t kidding.  Given how technologically involved each film is and how long the post-production takes per movie, it makes sense to go ahead and shoot all the Avatar sequels at once.  Cameron doesn’t have to wait for sets to be built or locations to be ready, he just throws those goofy suits on his actors, puts them in a warehouse, and starts make-believin’.

When it was announced that Avatar 2 and 3 would be Cameron’s next films, tentative release dates of December 2014 and 2015 were slated.  As Cameron has been taking his time working on the scripts and going on diving expeditions, producer Jon Landau recently admitted that the sequels were unlikely to make their scheduled release dates.  As Cameron's the man behind the two highest grossing movies of all time—with three sequels to one of them on the way—I doubt Fox can be too upset with the delay.  Based on the post-production schedule of the first film, if Cameron indeed starts filming this fall we could possibly see Avatar 2 by late 2015.

There’s no firm word on exactly which actors will be back or what the plot will involve, but Cameron previously talked about his desire to explore the underwater locations of Pandora in the subsequent films.  Whatever the story concerns, it appears we’ve got plenty more time left to spend with our favorite blue cat people thingy majigs.

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Image via 20th Century Fox