Avatar 2 postponed again! Is Star Wars Episode VIII to blame?

Film aficionados who have been waiting for the sequel to James Cameron's Avatar may be disappointed as the release of the film has been postponed.

What's more, shooting has not yet begun for Avatar 2.

According to entertainment news website TheWrap, the movie won't be ready in time for its scheduled Christmas 2017 release.

The news comes a month after Cameron revealed that the production team had targeted the holiday release date.

No new release date has been fixed for the film yet. In fact, the previous release date was not officially confirmed by 20th Century Fox.

While the studio refused to comment on the report, a few sources cited the production to be the main cause of the delay. Sound-stage construction and some computer animation work for the project is still in the early stages.

Meanwhile, other sources speculated that the decision to delay Avatar 2 might also be affected by Disney's announcement to move Star Wars Episode VIII to 15 December 2017.

Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana will reprise their roles as Jake Sully and Neytiri. Sigourney Weaver is also set to return but she will play a new character.

Cameron has indicated that the sequel to Avatar may be set on a moon of the planet Pandora and will feature underwater scenes.

-- IANS