Los Angeles: Disney has announced its future slate of films, which has postponed James Cameron ‘Avatar’ movies and announced a new trio of untitled ‘Star Wars’ entries.
According to ‘Variety’, this is another push for Cameron’s long-awaited and oft-delayed follow-up to the ‘Avatar’ series. ‘Avatar 2″ will hit theatres December 17, 2021 instead of December 18, 2020 as originally scheduled.
This simultaneously delays three sequels – “Avatar 3” is now slated to be released December 22, 2023 instead of December 17, 2021; ‘Avatar 4’ will debut December 19, 2025 as opposed to December 20, 2024 and ‘Avatar 5’ will open December 17, 2027.
The development came as a part of a larger shift of Disney’s plan after buying the bulk of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets in a USD 71.3 billion mega-merger.
As for the new ‘Star Wars’ series, they will hit theatres after the upcoming ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ brings the Skywalker spin-off saga to a close in December.
The first in the new trio will hit the cinema halls December 16, 2022. This will be followed by two other sequels that will premiere during the Christmas holidays, December 20, 2024 and December 18, 2026.
It means that cine goers will have new films from ‘Avatar’ and ‘Star Wars’ universes every year between 2021 and 2027.
Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ adaptation will bow December 18 next year while ‘Cruella’ will debut December 23 ahead of the long Christmas weekend. Emma Stone stars in the title role in the live-action ‘101 Dalmatians’ spin-off.