Director James Cameron, producer Jon Landau, and the rest of the Avatar team have officially gone back to work on Avatar 2. Over the past two weeks, the crew completed a government-mandated quarantine period upon arriving to New Zealand. Now that they're in the clear, production can start back up again. Landau shared a new set photo to his Instagram to commemorate the film being back in action. Check it out:

As you can see in the candid iPhone photo, the crew members are generously spaced out on set. A few (but not all) are wearing face masks. As the first Hollywood blockbuster to resume production after coronavirus, the Avatar sequels are somewhat of a litmus test for how other movies will move toward completion. Earlier this week, Universal announced that Jurassic World: Dominion is set to continue filming by mid-July, with $5 million worth of safety initiatives in place.

All of the motion capture footage for Avatar 2 and has already been completed. The planned spring shoot in New Zealand was to get the live-action pickups needed to complete Avatar 2, which is still supposed to be released next year. Cameron and his team received special permission from the New Zealand government to start shooting again. The decision has ruffled the feathers of quite a few New Zealand citizens, who criticized their government for allowing Avatar 2 to resume while homegrown industries stay shuttered. However, the government stated that the blockbuster does provide jobs for over 600 New Zealanders.

While everything is up in the air, Disney is still aiming for a December 17, 2021 release date for Avatar 2. The following sequels are slated for 2023 and 2025, respectively.

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