Zoe Saldaña responds to Avatar sequel delays

Written by on June 16, 2023

Zoe Saldaña has weighed in on Avatar 3, 4 and 5‘s delay in production.

Earlier this week, it was announced that the sequel to Avatar: The Way of Water will now debut on December 19, 2025 instead of next year, while Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 have both had their release dates pushed back by three years.

This means the fourth instalment won’t be released until December 2029, and the fifth and final movie won’t debut until December 2031.

Karwai Tang//Getty Images

Related: How much money did Avatar: The Way of Water make at the box office?

Responding to the news on her Instagram Story, Saldaña, who plays Neytiri in the films, wrote: “Great! I’m gonna be 53 when the last Avatar comes out. I was 27 when I shot the very first movie.”

Explaining the reason behind delays on Twitter, Avatar producer Jon Landau said: “Each Avatar film is an exciting but epic undertaking that takes time to bring to the quality level we as filmmakers strive for and audiences have come to expect.

“The team is hard at work and can’t wait to bring audiences back to Pandora in December 2025.”

zoe saldaña instagram update

zoesaldana//Instagram

Related: How Avatar: The Way of Water‘s ending sets up the third movie

Saldaña, who has also starred as Gamora in the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek movies, previously admitted that she feels “stuck” doing franchises.

“I feel that for the last 10 years of my life, I’ve been just stuck. I felt stuck doing these franchises,” she explained.

Although the actress stressed that she’s very “grateful” for the opportunities she’s been given, she added: “But it also meant that I felt artistically stuck in my craft of not being able to expand or grow or challenge myself by playing different sorts of genres and different roles.”

Avatar: The Way of Water is available to stream now on Disney+.

Avatar (2009)
Avatar Extended Collector's Edition [Blu-ray]
20th Century Fox Avatar Extended Collector’s Edition [Blu-ray]
Jake & Neytiri's First Banshee Flight (LEGO 75572)
LEGO Jake & Neytiri’s First Banshee Flight (LEGO 75572)
Credit: LEGO
Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch (LEGO 75571)
LEGO Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch (LEGO 75571)
Credit: LEGO
Toruk Makto & Tree of Souls (LEGO 75574)
lego Toruk Makto & Tree of Souls (LEGO 75574)
Credit: LEGO
AvatarAvatar Lettermark logo

Content Production Intern, Digital Spy

After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022. In this role, Iona writes across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. During her time at Digital Spy, she has interviewed multiple Love Island stars, reported from the Black Adam red carpet and, most recently, interviewed the cast of Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid.


watch avatar the way of water full movie
watch avatar the way of water full movie
watch avatar the way of water full movie


Current track

Title

Artist