Photo:Joe Maher/Getty Images; 20th Century Studios
Joe Maher/Getty Images; 20th Century Studios
Zoe Saldañais joining fans in lamenting the delay of futureAvatarfilms.
Posting on herInstagramstories Wednesday, the actress linked to the recently announced news that the three upcoming sequels to last year’sAvatar: The Way of Waterare delayed.
“Great! I’m gonna be 53 when the last avatar comes out,” Saldaña, 44, jokingly wrote above the news headline, adding an emoji of a shocked face.
“I was 27 when I shot the very first @avatar movie,” she added with a bespectacled disguised face emoji.
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Disney, the distributor behind the hit sci-fi franchise, announced Tuesday thatAvatar 3will arrive in theaters Dec. 19, 2025;Avatar 4on Dec. 21, 2029; andAvatar 5on Dec. 19, 2031, according toVarietyandThe Hollywood Reporter.
Saldaña has played Neytiri, a bow-and-arrow-wielding Na’vi warrior and mother, sinceJames Cameron’sOscar-winningAvatar, released in 2009 and still reportedly the world’s No. 1 highest-grossing movie of all time (not adjusting for inflation). That first installment began filming in 2007.
IfAvatar 5will serve as the franchise’s finale and its purported 2031 release date holds, the entire on-screen series will span 22 years.
In a behind-the-scenes featurette forAvatar: The Way of Water, Saldaña and Worthington discussed how much had changed in the years between filming the originalAvatarand its sequel, including becoming parents — just like their on-screen characters.
“Something really special happened when we reunited forAvatar 2," said Saldaña, adding that the sequel’s “stakes are higher” because it’s centered on a Na’vi family. (Saldaña shares twin sonsCy Aridio and Bowie Ezio, 8, andson Zen Anton Hilario, 6, with husbandMarco Perego-Saldaña.)
“Zoe and me were always just very close, and that gave us absolute freedom to bounce off each other and just enjoy the ride,” said Worthington.
Saldaña alsotold PEOPLEhow she prepared to play Neytiri again after years between filmingAvatarand its sequel.
“It did take a little more time for my body to assimilate, to return to some of the exercises and the practices,” she said. “I’m proud of the fact that [Cameron] has lost bets of whether or not I can hit a mark [with my archery]. I think the first time was a hundred bucks?”
source: people.com
