'Avatar' sequels add a group of kids because that's how you make a hit in 2017
What do Stranger Things, It, and James Cameron's forthcoming Avatar sequels have in common?
As of Wednesday morning, the answer is: A group of pre-teen characters. And with the success Hollywood's had reviving that old Goonies, E.T. and Stand By Me vibe, we'd best get used to seeing this.
Fox announced seven new castmembers for the Avatar sequels, none of whom you've heard of before, all too young to vote or drive. They are, from left to right in the image above: Jack Champion, Trinity Bliss, Bailey Bass, Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, Filip Geljo and Duane Evans Jr.
Sounds like only Champion (far left in the above image) will be a human character -- all the others are Na'vi, so take a good look. This is probably the last you'll see of their real faces for awhile.
Three of those are from the Sully family -- Jake and Neytiri's son and two daughters -- while the others are from the Metkayina Clan. Champion plays Javier "Spider" Socorrow, who according to Fox was "born at Hell's Gate but prefers his time in the Pandoran rainforest more than the asphalt of Hell's Gate."
The Avatar kids did their big debut photoshoot at "The World of Avatar" at at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida. Not a bad way to kick off several years of making a multibillion dollar film franchise.
Concurrent production on the four Avatar sequels began in Manhattan Beach, California on Monday. The first is scheduled for release December 18, 2020.
Topics Stranger Things
Josh Dickey is Mashable's Entertainment Editor, leading Mashable's TV, music, gaming and sports reporters as well as writing movie features and reviews.Josh has been the Film Editor at Variety, Entertainment Editor at The Associated Press and Managing Editor at TheWrap.com.A finalist for the Los Angeles Press Club's Best Entertainment Feature in 2015 for "Everyone is Altered: The Secret Hollywood Procedure that Fooled Us for Years," Josh received his BA in Journalism from The University of Minnesota.In between screenings, he can be found skating longboards, shredding guitar and wandering the streets of his beloved downtown Los Angeles.
