Way back in 2013, directorJames Cameronmade the surprising revelation thatAvatarstarStephen Langwill reprise his role asColonel Quaritch, despite seemingly dying in the original blockbuster. Since then, the filmmaker has expanded his massive franchise from three sequels to four, withAvatar 2’s release pushed one full year to Christmas 2018. While these sequels appear to be constantly evolving,Stephen Langrevealed thatJames Cameronis still planning on bringing this character back for all four sequels.
During his interview from 2013,James Cameronwouldn’t exactly say how Quaritch would be back, only teasing that this sequel is “a sci-fi story,” hinting there are any number of ways he could be resurrected. The filmmaker also teased that his characters will “evolve into unexpected places” over the course of this franchise, but those statements were over three years ago. During an interview withMashable,Stephen Langmade it clear that Quaritch is here to stay.
“Well, I can say because it’s a matter of public record, that the character of Col. Quaritch is important in each of the films -Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5.”
Sadly, he would not elaborate how Quaritch will come back, butStephen Langis expected to join returning starsSam WorthingtonandZoe Saldana, who are expected back for all threeAvatar sequels.Avatar 2will be coming in 2018, withAvatar 3coming two years later in 2020.Avatar 4andAvatar 5will be arriving back-to-back in 2022 and 2023.James Cameronhad originally planned to shoot his three sequels simultaneously, but we don’t know for sure if that is still on the table.
James Cameronbrought onJosh Friedman(Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) to writeAvatar 2, withShane Salerno(Savages) and the writing team ofRick JaffaandAmanda Silver(Rise of the Planet of the Apes) writingAvatar 3andAvatar 4. No story details for any of the sequels were revealed, but it has been said that fans will see many different worlds theNa’viinhabit within Pandora. The director also teased at CinemaCon that all four sequels will “stand alone but come together to form a saga.”
The sequels were supposed to startshooting this spring, but withAvatar 2pushed back to 2018, that isn’t happening anymore. We don’t know for sure when these sequels will finally go before cameras, but when they do hit theaters, they’ll have big shoes to fill. 2009’sAvatarstill holds the all-time worldwide box office record with $2.7 billion, followed byJames Cameron’s other blockbusterTitanic($2.1 billion) and last year’s epicStar Wars: The Force Awakens($2.06 billion).Star Wars: The Force Awakensdid shatterAvatar’s domestic record of $760.5 million with $936.6 million, and it’s possible that futureStar Warsmovies could finally break all ofAvatar’s box office records before the first sequel hits theaters.
