The time gap between the filming of Avatar 2 and 3 and the last two films implies an issue with the kids’ ages; however, there is a solution to it.
Summary
- James Cameron's recent announcement reveals that the Avatar franchise will have a four-sequel strategy, with Avatar 3 releasing in 2025, Avatar 4 in 2029, and Avatar 5 in 2031.
- A six-year time jump in Avatar 4 will solve the problem of aging child actors, allowing them to play their characters in different phases of their lives.
- The time gaps between films will not be a problem, as the necessary motion capture and live-action shooting for the future films have already been taken care of during the production of Avatar 2 and 3.
Recently revealed details by James Cameron about the Avatar franchise clarify how the time gaps between movies will be handled. The first installment gave birth to the franchise in 2009, marking a milestone in movie history with a box office gross of $2.9 billion worldwide. Originally, Cameron intended to make it a trilogy, and, a year after Avatar's release, two sequels were announced for 2014 and 2015, respectively. Plans changed several times, with the goal eventually shifting to a four-sequel strategy.
Avatar 3's update indicates that the film is back on track in its post-production stage and is scheduled to be released in December 2025. The plan is to release Avatar 4 in 2029, and Avatar 5 in 2031. The last two installments will be filmed back-to-back, as was done with the second and third sequels, and the shooting will start right after Avatar 3's release, so that might happen during the first half of 2026. The constant delays in finishing and releasing Avatar 3 keep lengthening the time gap between the third film and the last two. However, Cameron's recent announcement explains how this will be solved.
Avatar 4's Time Jump Solves The Problem With The Kids
While Avatar 3's motion capture and live-action images were filmed along with Avatar 2's during three years between 2017 and 2020, the issue with children's ages became a problem for Avatar 4 and 5, which haven't started filming yet. Even though the franchise has already proved with Sigourney Weaver's Kiri that an older actor can successfully play a younger part with CG via mo-cap and the only major problem would be Spider (a human character), such a long time in between films represents a massive obstacle. However, Cameron has confirmed that Avatar 4 will have a time jump of six years, thus fixing the issue.
Furthermore, the plan is to show the Avatar characters in the timeline from the second and third movies during the first act of the fourth film and then proceed to make a six-year time jump. This will be possible since the mo-cap of the children and live-action shooting, in the case of Spider, have already been taken care of while shooting Avatar 2 and 3. So, in other words, everything seems to indicate that time gaps will not be a problem in the franchise.
How Old The Avatar Kids Will Be With The 6-Year Time Jump
Keeping in mind that there isn't a considerable time jump between Avatar's second and third movies, many characters will be in completely different phases of their lives when they return. Most will be young adults by this point. Kiri, who was 15, will be 21, Lo'ak, who was 14, will be 20, Spider, who was 16, will be 22, Tuk, who was 7, will be 13, Tsireya, who was 14, will be 20, and, finally, Aonung, who was 15, will be 21.
Avatar 2&3 | Avatar 4&5 | |
|---|---|---|
Kiri | 15 years old | 21 years old |
Lo'ak | 14 years old | 20 years old |
Spider | 16 years old | 22 years old |
Tuk | 7 years old | 13 years old |
Tsireya | 14 years old | 20 years old |
Aonung | 15 years old | 21 years old |
Avatar 4
- Release Date
- December 21, 2029
- Rating
- PG-13
