Avatar Sequels Halt Production In New Zealand Due to Coronavirus

Production on the Avatar sequels has been shut down in New Zealand due to coronavirus fears. Producer Jon Landau confirmed the news to the New Zealand Herald. The film was set to shoot at Wellington’s Stone Street Studios, but now the production crew will remain in Los Angeles.

“We’ve delayed it,” Landau said. “We had plans to come down Friday night with a group of people and start back up and we made the decision to hold off and continue working here [Los Angeles], and come down there a little bit later than we’d planned.

“We’re in the midst of a global crisis and this is not about the film industry. I think everybody needs to do now whatever we can do, as we say here, to flatten the [coronavirus] curve.”

As for when production in New Zealand will resume, Landau said he “can’t give you an answer.”

“If I told you we are going to know something in two weeks I’d be lying,” he added. “I might not be wrong – even a broken clock is right twice a day. But I would be lying because I don’t know.”

Weta Digital, Peter Jackson’s Wellington-based digital effects company, will continue to work on the visual effects for the film.

Avatar 2 is currently set for a December 17th, 2021 release, followed by Avatar 3 in December 2023, Avatar 4 in December 2025, and Avatar 5 in December 2027.