Hunger Games 2 Conflicts, Captain America 2 Announced and Avatar 2 Delayed
Whilst Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth are signed on for future ventures into the battle arena, Gary Ross may not return to direct the The Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire, as negotiations remain difficult. Lionsgate may take a Twilight approach with the series and recruit a different director for the next installment. Sources near to the negotiations expect problems to be solved and for Ross to return, but who could direct Catching Fire if he didn’t? Perhaps Alfonso Cuarón (director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) or David Yates (director of Potter films Order of the Phoenix, Half Blood Prince and the Deathly Hallows two-parter), both of whom notably turned the Harry Potter series into a darker, more adult experience with their instalments into the franchise.
Jennifer Lawrence herself has just resolved scheduling conflicts for the sequel to X-Men: First Class (in which she plays shape-shifter Mystique) and for Catching Fire (in which she stars as Katniss Everdeen), as sources tell THR that Fox now plans to shoot the next X-Men: First Class film in January 2013, signifying that Lionsgate can now go ahead with their production start of August-September 2012.
Marvel’s Captain America sequel has been announced and is due on April 4th, 2014, according to Entertainment Weekly. Whilst the original saw Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) become the red, white and blue superhero to defend the Allies from the Nazis during WWII, the sequel is to follow straight after Avengers Assemble (out 26th April in the UK). Marvel’s announcement details that “Steve Rogers continues his affiliation with Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. and struggles to embrace his role in the modern world.” This signifies that – aside from the obvious fact that Captain America must survive the struggles of Avengers Assemble – Nick Fury (portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson) will have an important part to play in the next film, instead of his usual cameo appearances in the individual Marvel superhero films building up to the Avengers Assemble release, such as Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk.
Avatar producer Jon Landau has told Empire that Avatar 2 is unlikely be out by 2014, despite director James Cameron’s previous assertions that two sequels to the 2009 smash hit sci-fi blockbuster would be filmed back-to-back and released in December 2014 and December 2015. Landau said that “We’re not naming dates, but I think 2014 will be a tough date for us to make. It’s about getting it right,” He continued “Movies make release dates; release dates don’t make movies”. Judging from these comments, it seems more likely that we will see Avatar 2 at the earliest in 2015, and perhaps Avatar 3 in 2016-17. Landau had previously told Empire that the sequels would work as stand-alone projects: “Each one has to work alone. That’s where movies fall into trouble – when they try to say, “You know what? It’s really one movie and there’s an intermission” – so we want each one to be a stand-alone movie. The next one will kick off where the next last one ended, but just like Avatar resolved itself and doesn’t feel like a set-up to another movie, you don’t want Avatar 2 to feel like a set up for 3.”
Sources – The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, Empire