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Next month (September 20th, to be exact) will mark the two year anniversary of the announcement that " ... Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide is joining forces with visionary filmmaker James Cameron and Fox Filmed Entertainment to bring the world of AVATAR to life at Disney parks."



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And just in case you're wondering: September 21, 2013 marks the 2nd anniversary of the very first comment by an irate Disney fan. Who was demanding to know why Walt Disney Imagineering had yet to reveal all of the rides, shows and attractions that it then had in the works for that "James Cameron's World of AVATAR" land which WDI was planning on building at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park.

Okay. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration (If I'm remembering correctly, the first complaint about this project might have actually been posted online on September 22, 2011 ... I kid. I kid). But you get the idea, right? That for almost two years now, the Disneyana fan community has continually carped about the lack of good solid info that can be found on the Web about "James Cameron's World of AVATAR."

Which is kind of understandable. Given that the only official image to be released -- to date, anyway -- is a picture of Joe Rohde, James Cameron, Bruce Vaughn and Tom Staggs looking over a green foam model of a version of this DAK expansion area that has long since been abandoned.



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But did you guys ever stop and consider why exactly it is that there has been so little information released to date about "World of AVATAR" ? To be blunt, it's because Cameron -- rather than The Walt Disney Company -- is the one who's been controlling the pace of development on this project. And since James wants this new DAK "land" to open at a time when it would be the most helpful for he and Fox Filmed Entertainment's plan to turn AVATAR into a full-fledged franchise ... Well, that's why we're still in the middle on an information drought when it comes to this particular Animal Kingdom expansion.

You have to remember that it was Tom Staggs and Bob Iger who approached James & Fox Filmed Entertainment when it came to acquiring the global theme park rights for AVATAR. So it's Cameron & his producing partner Jon Landau and their team at Lightstorm Entertainment who -- thanks to their creative consultant deals -- who actually have the upper hand here in this situation. Not Disney.

And to James & Jon's way of thinking, DAK's "World of AVATAR" isn't an end unto itself. But -- rather -- this new theme park "land" is just one component of their plan to turn the original AVATAR movie to a full-fledged franchise.



James Cameron speaks at the September 2011 announcement of the AVATAR deal.

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Now please keep in mind that there's this entire arm at Lightstorm Entertainment whose sole purpose is franchise development. And over the past four years, Cameron and his crew there have drawn up a battle plan that takes its inspiration from the way George Lucas and Paramount grew Star Wars & Star Trek into full-fledged franchises in the 1980s. Which involves a series of books that will keep the AVATAR characters and the world of Pandora front-of-mind among sci-fi fans as well as three new AVATAR movies.

And while James & Jon recognize that a hyper-detailed theme park version of Pandora (which will supposedly be this completely immersive environment on the same scale as DCA's Cars Land and IOA's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter) will help keep AVATAR enthusiasts energized, Cameron & Landau didn't want the tail to wag the dog here. Which is why they decided that it would be smarter in the long run (especially when you consider the future earnings potential of this franchise as a whole) that the three AVATAR sequels be properly set up / supported by a new series of sci-fi novels first rather than just charge ahead with development & construction of "James Cameron's World of AVATAR" for DAK. That's why -- in spite of Disney's original announcement that " ... Construction is expected to begin by 2013" -- they have yet to officially break ground on this project.

It's a really brilliant plan. If it actually works. The big question now is will any of the AVATAR sequels be as popular as the first film? Which earned nearly $3 billion worldwide during its theatrical release and then went on to become the best selling Blu-ray of all time.



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"And why would the potential success of the AVATAR sequels be in doubt?," you ask. Well, there are those in the entertainment industry who have whispered that the main reason the original AVATAR did as well as it did at the box office back in 2009 was because it was the first Hollywood film to skillfully mix CG & 3D. Which -- given the dozens of major motion pictures which are released annually in the 3D format these days -- clearly won't be the case when the first AVATAR sequel rolls into theaters in December of 2016.

In spite of that whispering, this issue doesn't seem to concern Cameron in the least. Earlier this month, Fox Filmed Entertainment chief Jim Gianopulos revealed to investment analysts that James has finished outlining the next three installments of his AVATAR film series. What's more, Cameron has selected the screenwriters that he'll be collaborating with in order to turn these outlines into full-fledged screenplays. And these folks are:



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Shane Salerno, the talent behind "Salinger," the Weinstein Company's highly anticipated, soon-to-be-released documentary.

And then -- borrowing a page from the way that Peter Jackson handled "Lord of the Rings " and "The Hobbit" -- all three of these AVATAR sequels will shot simultaneously starting in 2014 and then be released to theaters in December of 2016, December of 2017 and December of 2018.



Joe Rohde (center) leads James Cameron and Tom Staggs on a walking tour of Disney's

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And as for those sci-fi novels that will be crucial for growing / maintaining this franchise in between the releases of those AVATAR sequels, earlier this month, Fox & Cameron announced that they had signed "Jumper " author Steven Charles Gould to write four AVATAR novels. One of which will be based on & expand upon the storyline of that 2009 20th Century Fox release while the other three books will be based on the three upcoming AVATAR sequels.

So just to review here: In the past month, we've had Cameron & Fox reveal their plans for the three AVATAR film sequels. We've also had Steven Charles Gould signed to write four AVATAR-inspired books to help support & expand this film franchise. And we also had that faux Imagineer's cubicle set up at the "Journey into Imagineering" pavilion at the D23 EXPO which hinted at what's soon-to-begin construction at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park.

"How soon?," you query. Obviously nothing can officially get underway until the cast & crew of "Festival of the Lion King" exit their old theater in Camp Minnie Mickey and then move into their new digs in DAK's Africa section. Once that move is complete, contractors can then flatten the old "FOTLK" theater and officially begin site prep for "James Cameron's World of AVATAR." But that said, earlier this week, I was told that two construction trailers have recently been set up out behind the barns that house the animals which wander the savannahs at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. And that these trailers will soon serve as construction headquarters for Phase One of the "World of AVATAR" project.



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"And just when exactly will Disney reveal more about what's going on with this DAK expansion project?," you press. Well, keep in mind that it's Cameron & Co. -- not Disney -- who's calling the shots here. And while Walt Disney Parks & Resorts would dearly love to use an AVATAR-related event as a way to eclipse some of Universal Orlando's Harry Potter publicity (One scenario that I've heard floated would have Disney staging a star-studded ground-breaking ceremony for "James Cameron's World of AVATAR" at DAK in late May / early June right in the middle of Universal's several-days-long media event for the grand opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Diagon Alley), it's James who'll ultimately be determining when these announcements will be made, not the Mouse.

And given that Cameron runs by his own internal creative clock (i.e., James wrote the original treatment for AVATAR back in 1994 and had originally hoped to have had this effects-filled film shot & released by 1999. But Cameron eventually opted to put off production 'til 2008 so that the visual effects industry could then catch up to his vision for Pandora. So long story short: This is a guy who works at his own pace. Who doesn't like to be rushed) ... Well, I guess what I'm saying is that it could be a while yet before we see anything more than some black outlines of proposed plant life.



Photo by Jim Hill

Though -- that said -- I have also heard from a couple of sources at Imagineering that a piece or two of "World of AVATAR" concept art could be released later this Fall. But -- again -- that all depends on whether James Cameron finally decides that it's officially time to let the Na'vi (AKA his cat people) out of the bag.

Your thoughts?