Avatar 2 Director James Cameron Returns To New Zealand And Begins Self-Quarantine Ahead Of Shoot

Avatar 2, along with every other live-action movie with filming plans over the last several months, has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with sets being shut down. The film is being shot in New Zealand, where there is currently only one active case of the virus, and it looks like production will start up again soon.

Producer Jon Landau previously announced his plans to return to set to commence filming again, and it seems that he's been joined by director James Cameron. Variety is reporting that Cameron arrived in Wellington, alongside Landau, on Sunday May 31, and has now begun a mandatory 14-day quarantine period.

Landau announced their arrival on Instagram, complete with a photo of the two men wearing masks at the airport. "Made it to New Zealand," the post reads. "Our 14-day government supervised self-isolation now begins." Variety reports that the two men were allowed into the country, which is otherwise closed off to international travel, due to a border exemption for visitors who represent "significant economic value."

James Cameron's last two feature narrative films, Avatar and Titanic, both broke records as the highest grossing films of all time when they released; True Lies, an earlier film of his, was the first film made with a budget above $100 million.

On set photos of Avatar 2 have been released, giving fans a look at how the sequel is filming underwater scenes. The film is scheduled to release on December 17, 2021. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang will reprise their roles from the first movie, and will be joined by Kate Winslet, Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, and Jemaine Clement. Production on the live-action parts of the movie wrapped in November.