New Avatar delays mean the series won't end until 2031, 22 years after the first movie

Avatar 3 has been delayed to 2025, which means we'll be taking our final trip to Pandora in 2031.

Because of Disney's decision to add a new Star Wars and Moana live-action adaption to the release calendar, Avatar and its subsequent sequels have been thrown out of whack. Avatar 3, initially slated for a December 20, 2024 release, has been moved to December 19, 2025. Avatar 4 has shifted from December 18, 2026 to December 21, 2029; and Avatar 5 is now arriving on December 19, 2031. 

This means the last Avatar movie in the franchise will be released 22 years after the original 2009 film.

"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," producer Jon Landau wrote on Twitter. “The team is hard at work and can’t wait to bring audiences back to Pandora in December 2025.”

Avatar: The Way of Water has made $2.2433 billion at the global box office since it was released in December 2022. The only two movies above the sequel in the all-time rankings are the first Avatar movie at $2.9 billion and Avengers: Endgame at $2.7 billion. 

Avatar 3 has already completed production, with most of Avatar 4 already filmed. The good news is that the delays give the production team more time to flesh out the CGI and SFX that the franchise is known for. The bad news is that all the people who painted themselves blue for premiere night are going to have to wait a whole lot longer to paint themselves again.

For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2023 and beyond.