Director
James
Cameron
has
announced
three
sequels
to
his
2009
hit
Avatar.
The
Hollywood
filmmaker
says
that
Avatar
2,
3
and
4
will
be
shot
simultaneously
with
production
kicking
off
next
year.
They
will
be
released
in
December
of
2016,
2017
and
2018,
respectively,
reports
eonline.com.
The
58-year-old
has
called
aboard
screenwriters
Josh
Friedman
of
War
of
the
Worlds,
Shane
Salerno
from
the
movie
Savages,
Rick
Jaffa
and
Amanda
Silver
from
Rise
of
the
Planet
of
the
Apes
to
help
him
work
on
the
three
scripts.
"Building
upon
the
world
we
created
with
'Avatar'
has
been
a
rare
and
incredibly
rewarding
experience," Cameron
said
in
a
statement.
"In
writing
the
new
films,
I've
come
to
realise
that
'Avatar's'
world,
story
and
characters
have
become
even
richer
than
I
anticipated,
and
it
became
apparent
that
two
films
would
not
be
enough
to
capture
everything
I
wanted
to
put
on
screen.
And
to
help
me
continue
to
expand
this
universe,
I'm
pleased
to
bring
aboard
Amanda,
Rick,
Shane
and
Josh
-
all
writers
I've
long
admired
-
to
join
me
in
completing
the
films'
screenplays," he
added.