‘Avatar 3’ carries on a franchise-long tradition after being hit with its first major delay

It all seemed to good to be true; after waiting 13 years for Avatar: The Way of Water to come along – which then went on to repeat the formula of its predecessor by becoming one of the highest-grossing movies of all-time – the wait for Avatar 3 seemed to be suspiciously short.

James Cameron’s threequel was locked in for a December 2024 debut, which seemed way too soon given the franchise’s penchant for taking its sweet time. With that in mind, is there going to be a single raised eyebrow now that Disney has officially announced a year-long delay for the chance to return to Pandora for a third time?

As part of a calendar-wide reshuffle, Avatar 3 will now land in December 2025. In addition, the next two follow-ups have been pushed as well, with the fourth chapter debuting in December of 2029, with Avatar 5 in December of 2031, meaning that by the time the saga wraps up, Cameron will have been churning out nothing but Na’vi blockbusters for 22 years.

Everyone was skeptical of the third installment being sent out into the world on time, so it’s not a shock as mentioned, but it’s a huge disappointment nonetheless. There’s a genuine scientific phenomenon that’s been dubbed “post-Avatar depression syndrome” that was diagnosed following the opener’s game-changing run at the box office, and it’s more than likely to be the same again.

Not only that, but the symptoms might well be exacerbated by the revelation that Avatar 3 has just gotten that little bit further away. Don’t panic, it’s not really an Avatar production if it doesn’t get delayed at least once, right?