Industry insider Jeff Sneider claims
While moviegoers are still talking about 'Avatar 2: The Way of Water,' which has already grossed $500 million in its first weekend, some are already looking forward to the third 'Avatar' film.
The good news for fans is that they won't have to wait nearly as long for 'Avatar 3'.
Because James Cameron worked on 'Avatar 2' and 'Avatar 3' concurrently, fans won't have to endure another 13-year wait, as there was between the first and second films.
As a result, the release date for 'Avatar 3' is set for December 20, 2024, with filming already completed in December of 2020.
The first two films had run times of 162 minutes for 'Avatar 1' and 192 minutes for 'Avatar 2'. That took well over three hours for the second.
As a result, we can expect 'Avatar 3' to be another lengthy film, though it will need to be significantly cut if the current length is indeed nine hours.
Now the production team must focus on editing and cutting the footage together, which may not be as simple as it appears.
The 'Avatar 3' footage is nine hours long.
According to industry insider Jeff Sneider, James Cameron went a little overboard when filming 'Avatar 3,' and there is currently far too much footage to cut.
James Cameron is rumored to have handed in a 9-hour cut of #Avatar3 to Disney 😳
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) December 16, 2022
He wants to do the VFX for all 9 hours before cutting it down
(via @TheInSneider) pic.twitter.com/8ZPpRxSg1z
"Someone contacted me and said Cameron turned in a cut of 'Avatar 3' last week," Sneider said on the 'Hot Mic' podcast.
"The cut was nine hours long, no joke.
"Apparently, he's insisting on doing the visual effects for this cut, so that all nine hours get fully VFX'd, then he'll cut it down.
"Rather than figuring out what he wants and having them just do the VFX for that. That's what I heard."
