8 years after the original, the 'Avatar' sequels have finally begun production on a $1 billion budget
James Cameron's ambitious sequels to his 2009 box office hit, "Avatar" - which is the highest-grossing worldwide release of all time with over $2.7 billion - began production on Monday, according to Deadline.
But like all things Cameron does, he is going into uncharted territory, as the director will be making the four "Avatar" sequels in succession. The closest franchise to do this was New Line's "The Lord of the Rings" movies, in which director Peter Jackson shot all three movies at the same time.
The price tag to pull off Cameron's epic movies: over $1 billion, according to Deadline.
However, Cameron has not just "Avatar" under his belt but the previous all-time box office champion, "Titanic." So if any director is worthy of that kind of budget it's him. And the money will not go to waste. Along with the obvious money that goes into making four blockbusters, Cameron plays to elevate the 3D Imax experience to present the movies to us.
20th Century Fox plans to release the first Avatar sequel on December 18, 2020, the next movie is to be released a year later, with the last two in December 2024 and 2025.
But we'll see if Fox can keep Cameron to that schedule.