As previously reported, 20th Century Fox CEO Jim Gianopulos stated that "Avatar 2" may likely release in December 2017. In an interview with Montreal Gazette, director James Cameron has come out and confirmed that the sequel will indeed release by Christmas 2017 while also giving a few updates regarding the film's development.

Cameron stated that while they have announced a December 2017 release, he considers it more important that they release the sequels one year apart, with "Avatar 3" coming out by December 2018 and "Avatar 4" by December 2019.

The first film in the franchise, which was released in 2009, took over a decade to prepare before filming actually began, but it appears that Cameron and the rest of the team will get "Avatar 2" prepared for production in a much shorter time.

"We have design more or less finished," Cameron stated. "It's been about a two-year task. We've finished all the creatures and the landscapes, and the new worlds within the world of Pandora that you see. The writing is ongoing, but almost finished. Technical development is done. Stages are done. Infrastructure."

Cameron then concluded that the studios will begin production the beginning of this year. 

However, the director did not spill any details regarding the film's plot, setting and characters. At this point it is only suggested that Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana will be reprising their roles as Jake Sully and Neytiri, respectively.

Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang are also set to return in some manner, although the exact details are unknown given that both their characters died in the first film. Rumors flying about hint that Weaver will be portraying an entirely different character while Lang will somehow be reprising his role as Colonel Quaritch.

A previous report also indicated that the film may be primarily set underwater and may involve an alien prison facility as hinted in the concept art for the film.