How The 'Avatar' Sequels Can Be Saved

By Kate Hudson | Industry | May 8, 2019 |

By Kate Hudson | Industry | May 8, 2019 |

Yesterday it was announced that Disney was pushing back the release date of the first Avatar sequel by a year, from 2020 to 2021. Uh oh.

Per Variety:

“Avatar 2” will hit theaters on Dec. 17, 2021 instead of Dec. 18, 2020 as originally planned. Its move means that “Avatar 3” will open on Dec. 22, 2023 as opposed to Dec. 17, 2021 while “Avatar 4” will bow on Dec. 19, 2025 instead of Dec. 20, 2024 and “Avatar 5” will launch Dec. 17, 2027.

Come on, let’s be honest, any time a movie needs an additional year before it gets released means that something is probably not quite right with its content. That’s good news for Disney because I’m here to save the day. See, friends, I’m full of really great ideas and I feel like putting some of my brain power to use for help Disney salvage the Avatar sequels by outlining some plot points they can utilize to save the franchise:

Limit The Amount of Locations

Too many locations are confusing to the average moviegoing audience. I mean, sure, the world building of Pandora was interesting and all in the first Avatar, but I feel like they need to limit the scope of the sequels in order to keep the narrative tight. With that in mind, maybe they should consider keeping the bulk of the action on a plane or something for the first sequel.

Introduce Interesting Characters Outside of the Law

It’s been a while since I saw Avatar, but I’m pretty sure that they never explored what happens to the Na’vi who operate outside of the law of Pandora. I’d love to see a large group of them come together, maybe for a common, chaotic goal, and watch the fallout that ensues. Perhaps the movie can begin with all of them getting on a prison transport plane?

Cast Nic Cage

Look. Sam Worthington is fine, but he’s no Nic Cage. I think, and correct me if I’m wrong, here, that people would rather watch a movie about Nic Cage on a prison transport plane than one with Sam Worthington in it, doing whatever it is he does.

Picture this: Nic Cage is the sole good guy on a plane full of bad guys—and somehow the bad guys have taken control of the plane. So, he must work with a lone wolf Na’vi DEA agent (played by John Cusack) to bring the plane down and the bad guys to justice; all the while trying to get his Na’vi friend insulin so he doesn’t go into a diabetic coma and die.

Talk about a thrill ride.

If you think this is too much awesome for one movie, you’re wrong. It’s just enough awesome.

Relatedly, I also have ideas for the proceeding Avatar sequels, which involve Nic Cage’s character infiltrating a Na’vi prison because some other bad guys have taken it over with biological weapons, as well as a follow up movie where Nic Cage’s character has to trade faces with a Na’vi bad guy (played by John Travolta) where they ultimately fight on jet skis in Pandora. We can heighten the stakes by making John Travolta play the main bad guy in each movie, only because he likes to swap faces, his character can be played by John Malkovich in the first sequel, and Ed Harris in the second—we’ll save the big reveal of his true Travolta character’s face for the 4th movie. That’s called building suspense.

So, if Disney will follow the plots I’ve outlined above, I think the Avatar sequels will be the biggest blockbusters of all time. You all can thank me later. (By that I mean, I accept payment in the form of rare beanie babies and compliments about my sick dance moves.)

I’ll see you all opening night, Dec. 17, 2021!

via GIPHY