While the sequel to 2009's Avatar is expected next year, details on the follow-up and its planned third installment are still being kept under wraps though filmmaker James Cameron has shed some light on the films.
While promoting Alita: Battle Angel, Cameron divulged some story details from the first sequel while confirming previous reports that the second and third installments of the sci-fi franchise were largely filmed back-to-back with motion-capture for both sequels done and live-action sequences remaining to be filmed.
RELATED: Avatar: Why Nobody Cares About the Highest-Grossing Movie of All Time
"[Performance-capture] is the vast majority of the characters, and that is the vast majority of the running time of the film," explained Cameron in an interview with Empire magazine. "That pesky little live-action component is going to cost me five months of my life, across the two movies.”
Cameron also revealed that the first sequel would take place years after the original film with main characters Jake and Neytiri having an eight-year old daughter who witnesses a marital argument between her parents that serves as a pivotal moment in the film.
RELATED: Avatar 2 Doesn't Require You to Have Seen Avatar
"There’s a three-page argument scene between Jake and Neytiri, a marital dispute, very, very critical to the storyline," Cameron continued. "I wound up shooting it all from the point of view of the eight-year old hiding under the structure and peeking in."
Arriving on December 18, 2020, Avatar 2 will see the return of stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi and Joel David Moore, with newcomers Edie Falco, Kate Winslet, Oona Chaplin and David Thewlis to the franchise. Avatar 3 is expected to follow on December 17, 2021.