Even before the arrival of The Force Awakens, James Cameron’s blue-tinged box office king was continually thrust into the spotlight as the proverbial milemarker that J.J. Abrams’ blockbuster had to surpass, with analysts pouring over every ebb and flow in the weekly box office records. Alas, currently simmering north of $1.8 billion worldwide, outside of a rerelease further down the line it seems unlikely that The Force Awakens will topple Avatar after all.
Make no mistake, though, it’s Disney’s rejuvenated franchise that currently has a tight rein on the sci-fi mindshare. Case in point: Barely a few days after news surfaced that the House of Mouse would delay Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII back to December 15, 2017, The Wrap brings word that Avatar 2 has bowed out of its Christmas 2017 release window.
[zerg]Speculative reports may have pegged the long-gestating sequel for a release in 2015, 2014 and even all the way back in 2013, though this is the second time that Fox has officially postponed Cameron’s return trip to Pandora and its many moons. By filming all three of the planned sequels back-to-back, the director has stressed the importance of releasing his trilogy a year apart, building toward what he describes as a meta-narrative.
Following up to the 2009 original, there’s no question that Avatar 2 has been biding its time as Cameron looks to flesh out his sprawling vision, but after another delay, we can’t help but wonder whether the sci-fi franchise will fade into relative obscurity before Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana et al. roar onto the screen once more.
In light of today’s postponement, fans of James Cameron’s Avatar franchise will have to bid their time before indulging in the director’s ambitious sci-fi universe once more. Whether it will be a straight switch to Christmas 2018 remains to be seen, but only when Avatar 2 touches down in theaters will we find out whether or not that blue-tinged box office king was really one big fluke.
Published: Jan 22, 2016 10:50 am