Academy Award-winning director James Cameron last month during a video conference discussion with Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger for the 2020 Austrian World Summit spoke about the progress on his upcoming Avatar sequels and said that he along with his team had completed 100% work on Avatar 2, while 95% portions have been canned in Avatar 3, with the remainder of live-action portions yet to be shot. A major name in the first Avatar film released in 2009 was actress Sigourney Weaver, who played Dr. Grace Augustine, an exobiologist and head of the Avatar Program. She is set to make yet another appearance in Avatar 2, as was teased by images of the actress during filming, which also included underwater scenes. 

Now, in a recent interview to T magazine, Sigourney Weaver stated that she "had some concerns" with the underwater scenes. She said, "I had some concerns. But that's what the training was for. And I really wanted to do it. I didn't want anyone to think, 'Oh, she's old, she can't do this.'" The 71-year-old actres had undergone training for diving in Hawaii and Florida, where she and the cast, including Titanic actress Kate Winslet, learned to hold their breath for six minutes underwater. Upon the completion of her training, the Alien star had weights placed around her waist while being inside a giant tank during filming. It has been revealed that the actress will not be returning to reprising the same character in the sequel from the first film. She had earlier explained, "It will be challenging for me. I can’t talk about it, but my part is a little different in each one. I’ll transform somewhat."

Earlier in July, due to the pandemic lockdowns, it was announced that Avatar 2's release had been postponed to come out as a December 16, 2022 theatrical release, followed by Avatar 3 on December 20, 2024. The fourth and fifth pictures are planned for releases in 2026 and 2028. James Cameron stated that "about four and a half months" of production on the Avatar films was lost due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which he said "hit us like it hit everybody, it hit us hard."