Before AVATAR rolled around and broke all sorts of box-office records, Kate Winslet had the distinction of starring in the highest-grossing film in the world, TITANIC, and now, it seems that she's set to reunite with James Cameron for a starring role in his AVATAR sequels.
Per Deadline, Winslet will be joining the AVATAR cast as a character named Ronal. It's not known how many of the four AVATAR sequels Kate Winslet will appear in, but her addition is very welcome indeed. In a statement, James Cameron said, "Kate and I have been looking for something to do together for 20 years, since our collaboration on Titanic, which was one of the most rewarding of my career. I can’t wait to see her bring the character of Ronal to life." Production on the first two sequels got underway last week and its rumoured that the production will be the most expensive of its kind, with the estimated collective budget of the four films expected to surpass $1 billion.
While speaking with THR last week, James Cameron clarified that the current production will be covering AVATAR 2 and 3, which will then go through post-production sequentially. "Then we go back and capture 4 and 5," Cameron said. "They're all written and they're all designed, so we literally hit the ground running the day after Avatar 3 comes out, starting capture on 4 and 5 and then post on those and release those. That's the plan. So, it's kind of a two-and-two structure." Cameron also teased that a re-release of AVATAR could possibly pave the way for the sequels.
That's a great idea. Any chance I get to re-release my films so that people can see them on the big screen, the way they are meant to be seen … I'll never say no. We can remaster the film, we can do high dynamic range, things like that, so we can punch it up.
The first AVATAR sequel will hit theaters on December 18, 2020, with AVATAR 3 following on December 17, 2021, AVATAR 4 on December 20, 2024, and, finally, AVATAR 5 wrapping everything up on December 19, 2025.