James Cameron begins filming four Avatar movies together, on budget of $1 billion

After years of planning and several delays, production has started on the Avatar sequels. Avatar 2, Avatar 3, Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 have started filming simultaneously in Manhattan Beach with a reported budget of $1 billion.

Deadline reports that director James Cameron has started filming sequels to his 2009 blockbuster, which is the highest-grossing film ever.

Avatar broke box office records with over $2.7 billion at the box office and kicked off a new wave of 3D films. Only two other films have crossed $2 billion at the box office - Cameron’s own Titanic, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

It is expected to be the most expensive shoot ever.

However, shooting multiple sequels back-to-back isn’t an unheard of practice. Peter Jackson filmed all three Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies together - mostly so that there wouldn’t be too much of a gap between films.

The two Avengers films are being shot in a similar manner. Over ten years would have passed by the time Avatar 2 hits theatres in 2020. Avatar 3 will arrive a year later, and Avatar 4 and 5 will be released in 2024 and 2025, reports Hindustan Times.

While the budget is indeed high, individual Avatar films will cost approximately $250 million - a standard budget for tentpole films.

 Meanwhile, it is also being reported that the next two Avengers films will cost $500 million each, mostly to pay for the large ensemble cast.

The most expensive film ever produced is the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, On Stranger Tides, which cost nearly $400 million before advertising and publicity.

Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver will return. New cast members include Cliff Curtis and Oona Chaplin.