The 'Avatar' Sequels Will Be A Family Saga About Jake, Neytiri And Their Children

We have four Avatar sequels coming over the next seven years, with the first movie hitting theaters in 2017. Writer/Director James Cameron has revealed new details about Avatar 2 and the other Avatar sequels. Find out the details, after the jump.

In a new interview with Variety, Avatar series writer/director James Cameron reveals that the Avatar sequels will actually be a family saga:

"The storyline in the sequels really follows Jake and Neytiri and their children. It's more of a family saga about the struggle with the humans."

We had heard earlier rumors (which we did not report) that suggested that Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) would marry Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and become the new chief of the tribe and that the story would partly follow the struggle of the war with the humans which threatens to tear their family apart. It seems like those rumors might have been on the money with the Sully family being set-up to be the Skywalkers of the Avatar franchise.

And Avatar 2 is still scheduled to hit theaters in Christmas 2018, but Cameron warns that could change (again):

"We haven't moved that target yet, but we will if we need to. The important thing for me is not when the first one comes out but the cadence of the release pattern. I want them to be released as close together as possible. If it's an annual appointment to show up at Christmas, I want to make sure that we're able to fulfill on that promise."

The new interview with Cameron it to promote Cirque du Soleil's Toruk — The First Flight stadium show that opened in Montreal in November of last year and is now touring North America. I have tickets to see the production when it comes to Los Angeles later this year.

Cameron admits that while Toruk doesn't directly connect with the upcoming Avatar sequels, thematically the show "manages to land very very closely to the feeling of where the sequel stories are going." He says that "some of the costumes and hairstyles" might "create a resonance" so that "you actually see some of the things that you see in Toruk come into the design of the films," whatever that means. Cameron gave Cirque "full rein to just riff on what they had seen in the Avatar world from the first film" but he 'chimed in to make sure the project didn't steer too far afield from his central vision for the films,' giving the example:

"There's a tendency sometimes to go a little beyond the spiritual mysticism in the movie into actual magic. They can't have any actual magic, because it's not a universe that allows for true magic. But it definitely exists in a kind of a mystical, spiritual realm. The films do, and the show definitely does as well. It was that kind of creative conversation."

This statement is interesting especially since the world of Pandora contains shamans. This gives us an idea of where the Avatar sequels won't be headed.

Previously we have been told that all of the films will be stand-alone movies that continue the ongoing story of this world (in other words sequels that have a beginning middle and end). The story will have both bad and good humans, and bad and good Na'vi, and will give us a look at Pandora's other environments, most notably the world we have yet to see under the water. The films will feature many of the original cast reprising their roles, including Stephen Lang as Colonel Quaritch and Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine.

As of right now, Avatar 2 is scheduled to hit theaters in Christmas 2018, followed by Avatar 3 in 2020, Avatar 4 in 2022, and Avatar 5 in 2023. The very first Avatar opened in December 2009.