'Avatar 2' release date, latest news: 20th Century Fox locks in first sequel for December 2018 release

Has 20th Century Fox finally committed to an exact release date for the much anticipated "Avatar 2"?

Deadline recently reported that the movie studio has just allotted a Dec. 21, 2018 release slot for an untitled James Cameron film from his Lightstorm Entertainment production company. Speculations that it may finally be the first of four "Avatar" sequels stemmed from Cameron's previous announcement during this year's CinemaCon that the upcoming movie saga will be kicking off with "Avatar 2" during the Christmas season in 2018.

It has been almost a decade since the first "Avatar" movie was released in the cinemas in 2009 to global acclaim, setting and breaking records everywhere. To this day, it is regarded as the highest grossing movie of all time. This epic sci-fi movie combined real actors with computer-generated imagery and characters to tell the moving tale of a habitable alien moon called Pandora and its people's struggle against a colonization attempt by the human visitors headed by Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

"Avatar 2" was first scheduled for a 2014 release and has since gone through many delays, with the latest projected schedule putting it up for a possible December 2018 release. Could the newly announced release date actually be one that 20th Century Fox has just confirmed for "Avatar 2" after coming to an official agreement with the usually noncommittal Cameron? Perhaps the movie creator has finally found the cadence he's aiming for regarding the release pattern of the four upcoming "Avatar" sequels.

He previously told Variety in an interview that he wanted the release dates to be as close to each other as possible, and that the past delays occurred because he wanted to make sure that they were able to fulfill a regular schedule before releasing the first sequel.

Details about the movie itself tend to come in increments, but most of the main cast has reportedly signed back on to reprise their roles. Even Lang and actress Sigourney Weaver, both of whom seemed to have perished in the first "Avatar," are expected to be back for the sequels.

As for plot details, the "Avatar" sequels will reportedly be a family saga centering on Jake (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), and their children, as they journey through and beyond the forests of Pandora.

More details about the movie will hopefully come as the world awaits Cameron's next cinematic masterpiece.