James Cameron's Avatar sequels have been in the works for many years, and we're still more than a year away from the release of Avatar 2. Actor Stephen Lang has now commented on the progress of the upcoming movies.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lang assured fans that the Avatar sequels will be worth the wait. "I think they'll be enchanted and fascinated," he said. "Look, there are people who are going to just adore this world."
Lang played Colonel Miles Quaritch in the first Avatar, but although he apparently died in that film, the actor revealed that he'd finished his work on Avatar 2 and 3. "I was in communication just last week with New Zealand, with my director, and everything's great--he's working hard," he said. "My acting work on both Avatar 2 and 3 is complete. I might have to go back and do a line here and there, but I'm really done."
Lang went on to explain that the way Cameron is making the films blurs the line between traditional shooting and post-production work. "I hate to even call it post-production, what's going on now, because it really is the making of the film," he said. "It's just a beautifully imagined universe that Cameron has conceived of here. The partners we have, the people working by his [side], are committed to the vision of it and they bring so much to the table, from the actors to the caterers and everybody else. I'm looking forward to it as much as everyone else. It's been so long in the making, so long a part of my life."
Avatar 2 is currently scheduled for release on December 16, 2022, with the third film due on 20 December 2024. There hasn't been much news about the films this year, but in late 2020 several behind-the-scenes images were released, including these shots of the cast preparing for Avatar 2's aquatic sequences, cast member Kate Winset filming underwater, and these images of the New Zealand studio set. Avatar 4 and 5 are also on the calendar, but they're not due until 2026 and 2028.