Fanboys Anonymous

Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana have been announced for their return to Pandora for the next three movies in the Avatar franchise.

Credit: Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP Images

The two stars have signed on to reprise their roles as Neytiri and Jake Sully for three more sequels, Fox announced on Tuesday.

Director James Cameron recruited all-star screenwriters Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), Shane Salerno (Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem), and duo Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) to collaborate on the screenplays for the next three installments of the award-winning sci-fi blockbuster.

Surprisingly, Stephen Lang—who played Col. Miles Quaritch—is said to also be returning for the next three films, despite his character dying in the first movie. "I'm not going to say exactly HOW we're bringing him back, but it's a science fiction story, after all," Cameron told Deadline.com.

Cameron revealed to the Associated Press last month that the sequels will "create a family epic in the mold of The Godfather that will introduce views to new cultures and go underwater" on the fictional moon Pandora.

With new technology, environments, and creatures across Pandora, the sequels have a lot of room to measure up to the major success of the original.


The three-time Academy Award-winning Avatar, which came out in 2009, remains the highest-grossing movie of all time, bringing in $2.8 billion worldwide according to BoxOffice.com.

Filming for the next three movies will be shot back-to-back in New Zealand, with Avatar II due in theaters in December 2016. Avatar III is scheduled to premiere in December 2017 and the final sequel in December 2018.

Are you looking forward for the return to Pandora in the upcoming sequels? Comment below and let us know.