The 'Avatar' Sequel Won't Be Called 'Avatar 2'

Avatar 2? Don't call it that in front of James Cameron. The director tells Sci-Fi Wire the nature of the story forces a name change. "Certainly I don't want to call it Avatar 2," Cameron said. "He's not an avatar anymore, is he? Maybe we'll call it Na'vi." Cameron has not shied away from the subject of more Avatar, and it wouldn't surprise me if he gets a dime every time it's mentioned; he's shrewd like that. Why? People dig it, meaning he can dive a little deeper into the spirituality of the story. "I think we can see that there's a greater receptivity to it on the part of the audience than certainly the studio originally imagined," Cameron said. There's even more good news for Pandora fans: Cameron confirmed that nobody else would direct the sequel. "I wouldn't do that for the second film," Cameron said. "It'd be premature to turn it over to somebody else right now. I think I'd have to use a film to train somebody to be able to take the reins, honestly. That's how I see it." Sure sounds like a trilogy to me. In other Avatar news, the film has zoomed past $700 million in the US, and the downright silly figure of $2.55 billion in total ticket sales, and that's the number I've been waiting for. The film has now made more in foreign ticket sales than the total sales of Titanic, meaning that even if it had never been released in the US, it would be the world's all-time box office champion.

Comments

[nick soapdish]

Wow. That's really amazing that it didn't need to be released in america to make that much money. Crazy.

[J.Bradley]

I think it's cool that THERE IS buzz for another one. Before release you'd never think there'd be ANY chance of this becoming a franchise, given it's cost. But story-wise you've got a huge world (or worlds) to explore so I hope this - goes on - as a trilogy or series.