Stephen Lang To Return For ‘Avatar’ Sequels

Stephen Lang will be returning for James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar sequels.

Lang played Colonel Miles Quaritch, the head of the Resources Development Administration’s private security force. Quaritch seemingly died at the end of the 2009 film, but Cameron has a plan to bring him back for the sequels, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

James Cameron initially planned for there to only be two sequels, but later decided to make it a trilogy. Cameron has hired Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds) to write the first film, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) to write the second, and Shane Salerno (Salinger) to write the third. All three films will be produced by Cameron and Jon Landau with Lightstorm Entertainment.

Star Sam Worthington, who played disabled former Marine Jake Sully in the original Avatar, said he believes production on the sequels should begin by next October.

“We are going to start this time next year and we will do two, three and four,” Worthington told Australian radio station NovaFM. “In one shot, we’ll do them simultaneously. I’ll be grateful if it finishes.”

The first sequel is scheduled for a December 2016, with the next two installments coming in 2017 and 2018.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, 20th Century denied a rumor that Arnold Schwarzenegger had been cast as the villain in Avatar 2. A spokesperson for the studio told The Hollywood Reporter that Schwarzenegger will not only not be in the film, but he wasn’t even considered for a role.

Latino Review reported that Schwarzenegger landed the role, citing “top level sources.” The website said the villain would be played by someone “who hasn’t worked with James Cameron in almost 20 years,” before naming Arnold Schwarzenegger. The two worked together Terminator and its sequel, as well as True Lies, which was released in 1994.

Stephen Lang was cast as Abraham Lincoln in the eight-part miniseries To Appomattox, but after the series severed ties with Sony, negotiations began with interested networks and studios. The series is listed for release around Memorial Day 2014.

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