Avatar director James Cameron announces he will shoot THREE sequels to hit film in New Zealand

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Cameron announced the news at a press conference in Wellington
The first sequel will be released in 2016, with the others following in 2017 and 2018
Avatar, released in 2009, remains the highest-grossing film in history - making $2.7billion worldwide

By Sarah Bull

Published: 05:49 EST, 16 December 2013 | Updated: 08:01 EST, 16 December 2013

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James Cameron has announced that he will make three sequels to sci-fi blockbuster Avatar.

The Titanic director revealed he will shoot the movies in New Zealand, as he attended a press conference with New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key in Wellington on Monday.

The films, which will be made by Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment and Twentieth Century Fox, have been welcomed in the country and the first sequel will be released in 2016.

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Follow up stories: James Cameron has revealed he will be making three sequels to his hit 2009 movie Avatar

The following sequels will be released in late 2017 and then late 2018.

Cameron said of the plans: 'It's quite a thrill to be officially saying that we're bringing the Avatar films to New Zealand.

'We had such a wonderful experience here making the first film.'

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce said: 'The Avatar sequels will provide hundreds of jobs and thousands of hours of work directly in the screen sector as well as jobs right across the economy.'

Revealing all: Director James made the announcement at a press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, on Monday

On location: James will shoot the sequels in New Zealand, where the first film was made

Trailer for James Cameron's revolutionary film Avatar

Avatar, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver, was the highest-grossing film in history and made $2.7billion worldwide, along with winning three Academy Awards.

Cameron added that a core team has been developing new software for the sequels, adding: 'It's going to be a lot of new imagery and a lot of new environments and creatures across Pandora.

'We're blowing it out all over the place. At first I thought I was going to take it onto other worlds as well, in the same solar system, but it turned out not to be necessary. I mean the Pandora that we have imagined will be a fantasy land that is going to occupy people for decades to come, the way I see it.'

James Cameron announces new Avatar films

Starring roles: The 2009 film starred Sam Worthington, Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver and Joel Moore. Casting for the new movies has yet to be announced

Cameron said the films will explore different Na'vi cultures as well the cultures of other Pandora creatures.

He said: 'There's a fair bit of underwater stuff. It's been inaccurately said that the second film takes place underwater. That's not true.

Change of scenery: This time around, a lot of the film will be set underwater

'There are underwater scenes and surface-water scenes having to do with indigenous ocean cultures that are distributed across the three films.'

And Cameron added that while the first film focused on the main character, Jake Sully, the follow up films will tell the stories of his family.

He said: 'We spread it around quite a bit more as we go forward. It's really the story of his family, the family that he creates on Pandora. His extended family. So think of it as a family saga like The Godfather.'

Cameron and fifth wife Suzy Amis bought a farm about 90 minutes' drive from Wellington where they spend some of the year with their three children, and the director said the farm feels like 'closing a loop' after he spent summers on his grandfather's farm in southern Ontario.

He said: 'The kids love it here. They love that combination of freedom and responsibility that you get here because you can run freely. There are no predators and snakes and that sort of thing. We just let them go out with a walkie-talkie, and as long as they are back by dinner, we don't care where they are.'

He said he plans to bring his own helicopter from California to help make the commute from the farm to Wellington when he's working on the movies.

Living locally: Cameron and fifth wife Suzy Amis bought a farm about 90 minutes' drive from Wellington, where they spent some of the year with their three children

Before then, he said, he'll be throwing a Christmas party for the community around his farm. He said about 95 people turned up last year but he worries that numbers could be down this year because it's going to be an all-vegan menu, a lifestyle his family recently adopted.

Producer Jon Landau revealed earlier this year that the director and crew will be shooting the second and third film back-to-back, with Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington rumoured to be returning as lovers Neytiri and Jake Sully.

Although Cameron hasn't announced an exact budget for the movies, he expects economies of scale will help the films cost less then $1billion together.