First two ‘Avatar' sequels close to New Zealand wrap

Avatar 2 has finished its shoot in New Zealand and Avatar 3 is near to completion, director James Cameron has revealed. 

In a video interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger as part of environmental conference the 2020 Austrian World Summit, Cameron said: “We’re 100% complete on Avatar 2 and we’re sort of 95% complete with Avatar 3.” 

Speaking to his Terminator star from New Zealand, Cameron added that while the area is at Level 2 on the pandemic alert scale (and Level 1 outside the Auckland area, according to a government site) “we’re able to operate, we’re able to shoot and we’re able to have a more or less normal life. We’re very fortunate. So I don’t see any roadblocks to us getting both pictures finished.” 

Confirming that the shoot lost four-and-a-half months of production because of the pandemic, Cameron went on: “We’re very lucky in that we chose this as our production site years ago. We made the first film here in New Zealand and it turns out it’s ranking first or second best country in the world for its Covid response.” 

Disney recently announced that all four Avatar sequels from 20th Century Studios have had their release dates pushed back by a year, with Avatar 2 moving from December 17, 2021 to December 16, 2022, Avatar 3 from December 22, 2023 to December 20, 2024, the third sequel from December 19, 2025 to December 18, 2026 and the fourth from December 17 2027 to December 22 2028. 

Meanwhile it has been reported that Amazon Studios’ The Lord Of The Rings streaming series has resumed filming in New Zealand after the shoot was suspended in mid-March. Amazon representatives could not be reached for comment.