AVATAR 2 Delayed Until 2017 And Could Effect BATTLE ANGEL's Development

There is word from James Cameron (via Coming Soon) that his Avatar sequel with the working title of Avatar 2 is now being delayed from it's original release date of December 2016 to December 2017. The delays are due to the extensive writing needed to make sure all three sequels are cohesive with each other. Cameron still expects to shoot all three films at the same which is likely apart of the delay.

“There’s a layer of complexity in getting the story to work as a saga across three films that you don’t get when you’re making a stand-alone film,” said Cameron.“We’re writing three simultaneously. And we’ve done that so that everything tracks throughout the three films. We’re not just going to do one and then make up another one and another one after that and parallel with that, we’re doing all the design. So we’ve designed all the creatures and the environments.” 

This makes sense since the team of writers include Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver working on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3, while Shane Salerno is writing Avatar 4 . James Cameron being involved with development on all three scripts. A rather large task since he's also directing all three films as well.

The news will likely also see delays with both Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 release dates as well pushing them to December 2018 and December 2019.

Hey look! It's a Battle Angel t-shirt.

Like most, we were all shocked when James Cameron announced he was making three sequels to Avatar. It's a bizarre move on the part of Cameron considering all the criticism he received for the film's boring and predictable story.

I'm sort of lamenting to all the wonderful films he could be making instead of focusing on this sub-par science fiction franchise. It's $2.7 billion box office is likely one of driving factors along with his nutty belief these films could help the environmental movement.

Fans like myself would rather see James Cameron focusing on more gritty material and getting back to his Terminator and Aliens roots.

Back in 2013, James Cameron did confirm to fellow director Alfonso Cauron during the TAG DF event that he was indeed going to be returning to Battle Angel Alita once production on Avatar 3 was completed in 2017. The project titled Alita is an adaptation of the manga and anime.

Combined with news that Avatar 2 will be delayed until 2017 and a third sequel added to the lineup since his announced development plans for Alita. I'm curious if the film will ever get made or will be further delayed.

Cameron had been originally developing the manga/anime adaptation's script with screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis (Ghost In The Shell, Terminator Genesys, Avatar, Shutter Island) while shooting Avatar and you can even spot him wearing a Battle Angel t-shirt on the set in the picture above.

Jim started commissioning design work on the film in 2008 which gives you an idea how long he's been working on the project. Cameron would eventually shoot test-footage for the film but it never seemed to make it's way online or to the public.

Alita, a cyborg who has lost all memories and is found in a garbage heap by a cybernetics doctor who rebuilds and takes care of her. She discovers that there is one thing she remembers, the legendary cyborg martial art Panzer Kunst, which leads to her becoming a Hunter Warrior or bounty hunter. The story traces Alita's attempts to rediscover her past and the characters whose lives she impacts on her journey. 



The project is like a mix of Blade Runner, Rollerball and Akira meets Ghost In The Shell with organ/robotic implant thievery. Littered with hardcore action and violence more in the realm of a Paul Verhoeven film like Robcop or Total Recall. Not to mention the protagonist of the film would be a very young girl.

During it's original development there had been a large demand to see Juno's Ellen Page take the role of Alita. Since then she would go on to star in huge blockbusters such as X-Men Days of Future Past and Christopher Nolan's Inception. Fox has even played with the idea of a Kitty Pryde spin-off but no official plans have been made.

It's more than likely that Page has aged-out of the role since the test footage was described to have an actress that looked like she was fourteen years old.

A younger actress who I think would be perfect for the role is Joey King (The Conjuring, Fargo, Crazy Stupid Love, Battle LA). You might remember she played a young Talia al Ghul in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises.

SOURCE: AP

CAST EM": X-Men First Class Sequel

20th Century Fox seems eager to start production on a sequel to X-Men First Class. They already have a writer working on draft while they still have to resign Matthew Vaughn to direct. We know that the original cast is likely returning as they signed a three picture deal which is common with these type of films.

One of my biggest pet peeves with First Class was that most of the supporting mutants were beyond obscure even for me as an X-Men fan. Mutants like Darwin, Riptide and Angel Salvadore could have been replaced with ones fans recognize. I understand having Havok and Azazel in there to plant seeds for future films. If this is indeed a reboot of the franchise we need to see wronged characters retooled and reintroduced similar to what they plan to do for Deadpool.

A few characters that deserve redemption include Juggernaut, Psylocke and Gambit. Two unused characters that have been rumored for a while include Cable and the villain Mister Sinister. Throw in another decent sized cameo for Wolverine and we're in business. I feel like this is still very much the story of Erik and Charles now that they've chosen their sides. We need to see them fully explore that new relationship. Jean and Scott no matter how popular they are, really should be saved for the third film.


MY CASTING THOUGHTS

AARON JOHNSON AS REMY LEBAEU (GAMBIT)

STEPHEN LANG AS NATHAN SUMMERS (CABLE)

RICHARD MADDEN AS CAIN MARKO (JUGGERNAUT)

MICHELLE RYAN AS BETSY BRADDOCK (PSYLOCKE)

CLIVE OWEN AS MISTER SINISTER

New Conan The Barbarian Images Reveal Film's Villain!

EDITORIAL: First Class A New X-Men Franchise For Fox?

I believe that one of the biggest reasons for 20th Century Fox making X-Men First Class is to branch out their X-Men universe. Creating a side-franchise for the studio since they could very well lose the rights to their Marvel properties like Daredevil and The Fantastic Four. The Wolverine and Deadpool have the greatest potential as successful spin-offs for Fox. The First Class films could help expand the X-Men universe while being a great place to insert their laundry list of unused mutants and origin stories.

So why do I believe that X-Men First Class is going become it's own franchise?  Fox more than likely has a plan for showing off more origins like ones for Jean, Scott, Storm and Gambit in future films. It's not financially sound to go and make solo origin films for all of these characters. Including their origins slowly in a First Class franchise makes more sense. It's also a perfect reason to have period based comic book films. While this film is set in the 60's the next film could be in the 70's. Still keeping it's Bond style of globetrotting with elaborate sets and costumes. Giving us fresh takes on the genre by changing up the eras. 

One of the biggest issues for fans was the exclusion of Jean and Scott. Yet if they were going by previous films neither would have been born when Xavier was young. Since they've sort of killed off both Scott and Jean it would make sense to feature their origin stories in a sequel.

It made sense for the first movie to focus on the older characters like Xavier, Magneto, Beast, Emma Frost and Mystique. The studio went on to use story elements from the Magento and Mystique (rumored) origin films. While it's unlikely the characters will now get their own spin-offs they could return for sequels. January Jones recently said she would like to return for another film. So it's possible they've locked in the actors for more movies.

Aaron Johnson had been rumored for the role of Cyclops and Gambit so it's possible they've already set things in motion with a cameo. Stephen Lang (Avatar, Conan) would love to play the role of Cable and could also be involved in any of the future X-Men films.

There had been talk of making a New Mutants/X-Force film but I wouldn't be surprised to see it and the members (Cable) being absorbed into a second movie. Yet you never know it could also be used in X-Men 4 which Bryan Singer is likely to direct when he is finished with Jack The Giant Killer.

Granted we haven't even seen a trailer yet but it's very possible if the movie does well this summer we could see more of these prequels.


Would You Like More X-Men Origin Stories Used In First Class 2? Should Cyclops, Jean, Storm, Cable and Gambit Be Featured In The Prequels? Leave Your Comments!

Stephen Lang Talks Cable

ScreenRant was able to talk with actor Stephen Lang (Avatar, Conan, Public Enemies) at the New York Comic-Con about fans wanting him to play the X-Men's Cable. Interesting enough he knows about the rumor and seems up for it if offered.

“One of boys mentioned to me – he says, ‘Hey pops, they’re talking about you for Cable,’ and I said ‘Who would that be?’ and so he Googled him for me and I saw him and I thought ‘Oh wow, he’s cool.’"

“Yes, I’m there. [Laughter] Sure, why not. I’d be happy to. You read it all, everything that comes across. And if it makes sense, if it’s a cool character, if it’s a theme you want to explore…sure.”

There had been talk that 20th Century Fox wanted to use Cable in future films.Yet it doesn't seem like he'll be in Deadpool, X-Men First Class or even Wolverine 2. I have to assume their plans involve a solo film. Lang is apart of the biggest film of all time and it just happened to be from Fox. If we were ever going to see Stephen Lang kick-ass in his own film Cable would be it. New Mutants is one film that Fox is trying to develop and Cable was it's leader. It just depends if they want to make another X-Men clone or something more in the realm of a futuristic science fiction superhero film.