|
Disney acquired the "Avatar" franchise and
several other movies through its recent purchase of film and TV
assets from Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, strengthening its
dominant position at movie theaters.
"Avatar 2," the follow-up to the 2009 blockbuster that is the
highest-grossing film of all time, had originally been slated to
reach theaters in 2014 but was delayed to 2017 and then to
December 2020.
With the sequel now scheduled for December 2020, Disney moved
"Avatar 3" to December 2023, "Avatar 4" to December 2025 and
"Avatar 5" to December 2027.
A year ago, director Cameron told reporters he had begun filming
on the second and third "Avatar" movies and had written the
fourth and fifth films in the series.
The story of a blue, humanoid race on a lush moon known as
Pandora, "Avatar" is the highest-grossing movie in history with
$2.8 billion in global ticket sales, though box office experts
say its long-standing record could soon fall to current Disney
hit "Avengers: Endgame" from Marvel Studios.
In between "Avatar" movies, Disney said it would release new
"Star Wars" films in December 2022, 2024 and 2026.
The company did not release details, but it has previously
announced plans for two "Star Wars" film series - one overseen
by "The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson and another to be
written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators of HBO’s
hit television show "Game of Thrones."
The "Avatar 2" delay moves one of Disney's biggest movies off
its 2020 slate. Films on next year's schedule include a
retelling of "Mulan," two untitled Marvel films, and Steven
Spielberg's remake of Broadway musical "West Side Story."
Eight Marvel movies are scheduled to be released between 2020
and 2022, the company said.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Nick
Zieminski)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
