Claim: Avatar premiered in a city.

Avatar -LRB- marketed as James Cameron 's Avatar -RRB- is a 2009 American epic science fiction film directed , written , produced , and co-edited by James Cameron , and starring Sam Worthington , Zoe Saldana , Stephen Lang , Michelle Rodriguez , and Sigourney Weaver . The film is set in the mid-22nd century , when humans are colonizing Pandora , a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system , in order to mine the mineral unobtanium , a room-temperature superconductor . The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na ` vi -- a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora . The film 's title refers to a genetically engineered Na ` vi body with the mind of a remotely located human that is used to interact with the natives of Pandora .   Development of Avatar began in 1994 , when Cameron wrote an 80-page treatment for the film . Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Cameron 's 1997 film Titanic , for a planned release in 1999 , but according to Cameron , the necessary technology was not yet available to achieve his vision of the film . Work on the language of the film 's extraterrestrial beings began in 2005 , and Cameron began developing the screenplay and fictional universe in early 2006 . Avatar was officially budgeted at $ 237 million . Other estimates put the cost between $ 280 million and $ 310 million for production and at $ 150 million for promotion . The film made extensive use of new motion capture filming techniques , and was released for traditional viewing , 3D viewing -LRB- using the RealD 3D , Dolby 3D , XpanD 3D , and IMAX 3D formats -RRB- , and for `` 4D '' experiences in select South Korean theaters . The stereoscopic filmmaking was touted as a breakthrough in cinematic technology .   Avatar premiered in London on , 2009 , and was internationally released on and in the United States and Canada on , to positive critical reviews , with critics highly praising its groundbreaking visual effects . During its theatrical run , the film broke several box office records and became the highest-grossing film of all time , as well as in the United States and Canada , surpassing Titanic , which had held those records for twelve years -LRB- and was also directed by Cameron -RRB- . It also became the first film to gross more than and the best-selling film of 2010 in the United States . Avatar was nominated for nine Academy Awards , including Best Picture and Best Director , and won three , for Best Art Direction , Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects . Following the film 's success , Cameron signed with 20th Century Fox to produce three sequels , making Avatar the first of a planned tetralogy . On April 14 , 2016 , Cameron confirmed that there were now plans for four sequels . Avatar 2 was scheduled for release in December 2018 before being delayed , with the sequels following in December 2020 , 2022 , and 2023 , respectively . The sequels are scheduled for release in 2020 , 2021 , 2024 and 2025 .