James Cameron is picking up steam on his new Avatar trilogy with the first substantial casting announcement coming out today.
According to Deadline, Stephen Lang has been tapped to appear in all three new Avatar films and reprise the villainous role of Colonel Miles Quaritch from the original film. Yes, he died in Avatar, but Cameron has come up with an inventive way to bring the baddie back and have him terrorize Jake Sully and the Na’vi for three more films. My money is on the planet Pandora bringing him back to life somehow, the same place he couldn’t give a crap about before he “died.”
Here’s the official statement from Cameron in regards to Lang’s return:
“Steven was so memorable in the first film, we’re privileged to have him back. I’m not going to say exactly HOW we’re bringing him back, but it’s a science fiction story, after all. His character will evolve into really unexpected places across the arc of our new three-film saga. I really look forward to working with such a gifted actor, who’s also become a good friend.”
If Sam Worthington is to be believed, production on all three Avatar sequels will commence in or around October 2014. Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), as well as Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds) and Shane Salerno (Savages), are currently putting their polish on each of the three films worth of scripts, while early pre-production work is underway.
Look for Avatar 2 to arrive in theaters in December 2016, following by the other two films at one-year intervals.
Source: Deadline
