'Avatar' director Cameron says he still hopes to film four sequels

“Avatar” director James Cameron said he still aims to make four sequels to the 2009 science-fiction blockbuster and is moving ahead with production while regulators review the proposed sale of 21st Century Fox’s film studio to Walt Disney Co.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Cameron said he is about 100 days into filming the second and third “Avatar” installments under a deal with Fox. If those are successful, he plans to continue with the fourth and fifth movies, which he already has written.

“I’m personally committed to all of them,” he said at the Manhattan Beach, California, studio where the sequels are being made.

Designs for creatures and characters for the four planned sequels are posted on walls inside the studio, Cameron said, but he did not show them to reporters.

Murdoch-owned Fox has committed to distributing the next movie in the franchise, but the film studio is in the process of being sold to Disney as part of a $52 billion deal. Disney chief executive officer Iger has not seen the designs for the sequels, Cameron said, because there are restrictions on their collaboration while the deal is under regulatory review.

“Avatar,” the story of a blue, humanoid race on a lush moon known as Pandora, is the highest-grossing movie in history with $2.8 billion in global ticket sales. The second “Avatar” film is scheduled for release in December 2020.

Cameron described the future “Avatar” movies as “a generational family saga.”

“I found myself as a father of five trying to think about what would an ‘Avatar’ story be like if it were a family drama, if it was ‘The Godfather,’ he said. “Obviously it’s a very different genre. It’s a very different story, but I got intrigued by that idea.”