'Avatar 2' Release Date, Cast News: 3 Sequels from December 2017 to 2019

Five years after "Avatar" became the highest box-office grossing film in history, raking in $2.8 billion in 2009, the team that made the worldwide sci-fi hit is now getting ready to start filming the sequel.

Written, co-produced, co-edited and directed by James Cameron and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi and Sigourney Weaver, "Avatar" is set in the mid-22nd century when humans are mining a highly valuable mineral called "unobtanium" on the planet Pandora in the Alpha Centauri star system. The conflict arises when the mining started expanding and started threatening the continued existence of the local tribe of Na'Vi, a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora.

After the first film, Cameron signed with 20th Century Fox to produce three sequels, all directed and co-written by Cameron. These will be released each year starting December 2017 to 2019.

The second film is reportedly going to be more emotional. Zoe Saldana said: "We kind of get choked up. Director Cameron gets emotional telling us the story. I get emotional hearing about it, so I'm looking forward to it."

Cameron was quoted as saying that the upcoming "Avatar 2" will probe into the family of Jake Sully (Worthington's character). "It's really the story of his family, the family that he creates on Pandora, his extended family. So think of it as a family saga like 'The Godfather'."

There will also be various plot settings in Pandora. Cameron mentioned that they are making an ocean ecosystem for Pandora, which echoes his concerns about conservation of the Earth's oceans.

Initially planned for a 2016 release, the movie has been delayed. Cameron stated that the writing process has been more complex than initially expected, and the 2016 release date was a little too ambitious.

What added complexity to the planning was that they had to get the story to work as a saga across the three sequels. This means the story for the three films has to be written at the same time. Simultaneous to the writing, the Avatar team is also working on the designs of the creatures and the environments. The team has acquired improved software and computer graphic tools to help speed up the process.

"Avatar 2" is slated for a Dec. 25, 2017 release date.