Avatar 2 Will No Longer Be Released in December 2017 - Report

With the news that the release of Star Wars Episode 8 was moving back to December 2017, the likelihood of James Cameron's Avatar 2 also debuting that month was immediately thrown into doubt. Now it has been reported that the film will no longer be released at that time.

According to The Wrap, Avatar 2 "will not be ready in time" to meet a December 2017 release. While Fox, the studio releasing the film, declined to comment, the site reports that their sources had confirmed this news.

The film is yet to start shooting, and Fox had never officially announced a release date for it. However, Cameron had spoken about a late 2017 release as recently as last month, with two more Avatar sequels following in subsequent years.

"Christmas of '17 is the target," he told the Montreal Gazette. "At least, that's what we've announced. But I don't consider that to be as important as the fact that when we get all three films done, we drop them a year apart. I call it a meta-narrative that runs across the three movies. Each film stands alone, but it also tells one much larger story."

The first Avatar earned $2.7 billion worldwide, making it the most successful movie ever made in terms of box office earnings, ahead of Titanic which was also directed by Cameron.

In October, it was announced that Cameron's adaptation of the classic manga Battle Angel: Alita was moving ahead, with Sin City's Robert Rodriguez directing from Cameron's script. The film has been in development for many years, but Cameron's decision to make more Avatar movies had meant giving it to another director.