<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $250 million </Td> </Tr> <P> Avatar 2 is an upcoming American epic science fiction film directed, produced, and co-written by James Cameron, and is the first of four planned sequels to his film Avatar (2009). Cameron is producing the film with Jon Landau, with Josh Friedman originally announced as his co-writer; it was later announced that Cameron, Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Shane Salerno took a part in the writing process of all sequels before being attributed separate scripts, making the eventual writing credits unclear . Cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, C.C.H. Pounder, and Matt Gerald are all reprising their roles from the original film . </P> <P> Cameron, who had stated in 2006 that he would like to make sequels to Avatar if it were successful, announced the first two in 2010 following the widespread success of the first film, with Avatar 2 aiming for a 2014 release . However, the subsequent addition of two more sequels, and the necessity to develop new technology in order to film performance capture scenes underwater, a feat never accomplished before in motion capture history, led to significant delays to allow the crew more time to work on the writing, pre-production, and visual effects; it is currently planned for a release on December 18, 2020, exactly eleven years after the American release of the first film, with the following sequels to be released between 2021 and 2025 . </P> <P> Preliminary shooting for the film started in Manhattan Beach, California on August 15, 2017, followed by principal photography simultaneously with Avatar 3 in New Zealand on September 25, 2017 . The other sequels are expected to start shooting as soon as Avatar 2 and 3's filming wraps . </P>

When is avatar 2 due to be released