Zoe Saldaña Reacts to ‘Avatar 5’ Being Delayed to 2031: “Great! I’m gonna be 53 when the last movie comes out”

15 June, 2023

Zoe Saldaña has had an amusing moment of realisation following the news that Avatar 5 has been delayed until 2031.

Per a report from Variety, Disney has pushed back the third Avatar film by a full year from December 2024 to December 2025. As a result, the two following films in the sci-fi franchise have also been delayed by three years to 2029 and 2031 respectively.

“Great! I’m gonna be 53 when the last Avatar comes out,” Saldaña humorously posted on her Instagram alongside a shocked face emoji. “I was 27 when I shot the very first Avatar.”

When the final film of James Cameron’s sci-fi franchise is finally released, it will have been a whopping 22 years since the original 2009 film premiered. Taking production time into account, Saldaña will have been part of franchise for 26 years. She star in the movies as Na’vi warrior and devoted mother Neytiri.

Disney has yet to share a reason for the delays, though franchise producer Jon Landau took to Twitter on June 13 to explain that the films are an “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,” Landau added. Franchise creator and director James Cameron has yet to comment on the delays.

Avatar: The Way Of Water made over $1billion (£831m) at the global box office in just 14 days following its release, making it the fast film of 2022 to reach that achievement. The film is also now the third highest-grossing film of all time. Avatar 3 was filmed simultaneously alongside The Way Of Water.

Back in December, Saldaña shared that she felt “artistically stuck” while working on blockbusters, claiming that they had stopped her from growing and challenging herself as a performer.

The post Zoe Saldaña Reacts to ‘Avatar 5’ Being Delayed to 2031: “Great! I’m gonna be 53 when the last movie comes out” appeared first on NME.