Earlier this year, director James Cameron confirmed there will be four sequels to the 2009 blockbuster Avatar. You know, that schlocky movie from almost 10 years ago we all sorta liked. In addition to this, Cameron also plans to revive Terminator in the form of a trilogy, and Schwarzenegger just confirmed his involvement.
This is the sort of the news that would have been a godsend a decade ago, but Terminator Genisys went a long way to bury any goodwill associated with that franchise... and Cameron knows it. Apparently, he’s getting back into the mix in response to the lackluster box office performances of the recent installments. Cameron plans on teaming up with Tim Miller, the guy that brought you Deadpool last year, in an attempt to reboot the entire franchise, including the iconic films from the late eighties and early nineties.
Here’s what Cameron had to say to News Australia:
“Can it still have relevance now where so much of our world is catching up to what was science fiction in the first two films? We live in a world of predator drones and surveillance and big data and emergent AI.”
Hey man, more power to him, I guess. The guy’s yet to make an out-and-out bad movie in my eyes. Cameron has stated he exercised hesitation at being critical of Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines, Terminator: Salvation, and Terminator: Genysis because of the close friendship he shares with Schwarzenegger. Godspeed Cameron, if anyone can repudiate the disaster that was Terminator Genisys, it’s the guy the jumpstarted the franchise in the first place.
The rights to the films are currently being held by David Ellison, who Cameron is reportedly working closely with on the new venture, but will revert back to him 2019. Not much is known by way of plot, except a three-movie arc that is intended to “reivent" the series as we know it. Cameron claims that the team is in the process of “putting more meat on the bones.”
As for the four Avatar sequels, Cameron announced the films are slated for 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025 releases. It’s an odd animal, this promised Avatar franchise, because the fervor of which Cameron pitches it to us would be sinful if it came from almost any other director. Yet as it stands, Cameron has been responsible for enough great movies that if he says this series about space cats fighting white guys in mech suits is gonna blow our minds...we sorta have to take his word for it.
