Disney Has Pushed Avatar Sequel Back By A Year Due To Coronavirus

Disney has made the difficult decision to push back the Avatar sequel by a year.

The follow-up to the incredible 2009 movie was meant to be released in 2014, however it's taken ages for production to match with director James Cameron's mind melting vision.

The sequel was all set for release next year on December 21, however that's now been delayed to December 16 in 2022. Sadly, it also means the sequels planned after the second instalment will be delayed as well.

Disney

That means Avatar 3 goes from December 22, 2023 to December 20, 2024; Avatar 4 moves from December 19, 2025 to December 18, 2026; and finally Avatar 5 will shift from December 17, 2027 to December 22, 2028.

Honestly, that just seems like an eternity away.

James Cameron has released a statement, saying: "Due to COVID-19, we were forced into an unexpected lengthy delay in starting the live-action filming we are currently doing in New Zealand. The pandemic is still preventing us from being allowed to recommence most of our virtual production work on stages in Los Angeles."

To make matters worse, the pandemic has resulted in other Disney projects being delayed.

The live-action remake of Mulan has been put on hold indefinitely after it was initially scheduled for an August release date. The theatrical release has now been listed as 'unset', meaning we have no clue when it could head to the cinemas.

Disney

It was meant to go out to the public in March, then it was July, then August.

A Disney spokesperson said in a statement: "Over the last few months, it's become clear that nothing can be set in stone when it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis, and today that means pausing our release plans for Mulan as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around the world."

The new Star Wars trilogy has also been pushed back.

The untitled films will now be released in December 2023, December 2025 and December 2027 respectively, if everything goes according to plan.

Other projects getting the delay treatment include The Empty Man, The Personal History of David Copperfield, Death on the Nile, The French Dispatch, The Last Duel, Antlers and two other untitled 20th Century movies.

Hopefully we'll get to see the light of day when these films and shows get released.

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie