BREAKING: James Cameron is shooting the films concurrently and now the release dates have been pegged for the sequels the biggest box office hit of all time: Avatar, which took in $2.7B worldwide when it was released in 2009. 20th Century Fox’s plan has been to churn out sequel after sequel after Avatar 2 hits theaters every year and that’s what was announced on the Avatar Facebook page this AM as the Avatar team said production is underway. The first sequel will now be released on Dec. 18, 2020, followed by Dec. 17, 2021 and then three years later on Dec. 20, 2024 and then Dec. 19, 2025.

The first sequel was initially expected in December 2014, but it was bumped — again (to 2016) and then again. Then Cameron said last month that they wouldn’t meet the 2018 date. So three postponements later, we now have the official release dates (for now?). The last three films in the series were scheduled for 2020, 2022 and 2023 releases, so everything has been pushed back.

The films are underway from Lightstorm in New Zealand with Jon Landau and the cast of Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang all returning. The script was written by Cameron with Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, and Shane Salerno.

Will it be worth the wait? The director told Empire magazine three years ago: “I can tell you one thing about them: They’re gonna be bitchin.’ You will sh*t yourself with your mouth wide open.”

Here’s the Facebook post from early this AM:

Great to be working with the best team in the business! Avatar takes flight as we begin concurrent production on four sequels. The journey continues December 18, 2020, December 17, 2021, December 20, 2024 and December 19, 2025!