The long-awaited Avatar sequel won't make its planned release date next year, despite being allowed to keep filming in New Zealand during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Avatar 2 was intended to debut in December 2021, 12 years after the original film.
Today director James Cameron confirmed it won't make its release date after all and will instead be pushed to December 2022.
"There is no one more disappointed about this delay than me," he says.
"But I am buoyed by the incredible performances of our cast and the extraordinary work that Weta Digital is doing bringing the world of Pandora and the characters of the film to life."
Filming of the live action portions in New Zealand was delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the pandemic is still delaying their ability to do the virtual production work in Los Angeles, Cameron says.
Avatar Producer Jon Landau told Q+A it took a week to get a border exemption to enter NZ so the crew could resume filming.
Crew members for the Avatar film were granted an exemption to New Zealand's border restrictions earlier this year, allowed to enter and film the blockbuster.
Cameron says he's grateful for the continued support by Disney, adding: "The entire company is 110 per cent behind not just the sequels, but also the rest of the franchise content we already have in the work."
Cameron previously announced four sequels to Avatar, which became the highest grossing film of all time upon its release.
All have been pushed back a year, with the final Avatar 5 set to air in 2028 - nearly two decades after the franchise's debut.
Disney has announced further delays to some of its other upcoming films, pushing back the airdate for the next Star Wars iteration from 2022 to 2023, and removing the release date for the live-action version of Mulan.
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