James Cameron – the man whose films have time and again falcon-punched technological developments while inventing entirely new numbers with their gross – can do pretty much whatever he likes these days.

Who’s going to argue with him? This is a man who can make a billion dollars by accident. On a Sunday afternoon. At suppertime.

And so, after taking 14 years to magic-up AVATAR and then promising every peon in the realm that the next will come “quicker”, it’s been announced that Josh Friedman has been sworn in to help work on the sequel’s screenplay.

Yeah: the screenplay. Literally the first thing that needs to be completed before a film’s production can get underway.

…sigh.

So “2014” – AVATAR 2’s original tentatively penciled release date – now seems as likely as the film being made of play-dough and Lego. 2015 seems very likely now. Or maybe 2171, when the tech will be advanced enough that Cameron – who has long since downloaded his consciousness into an android – can beam the film directly into our dreams.

But I digress.

Friedman’s previous projects include BLACK DAHLIA and WAR OF THE WORLDS (not forgetting THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, so there’s a tenuous Cameron link for you), so he’s got proven characterisation chops. And if there’s anything AVATAR’s critics would like to see it’s more meaty characters.

This also isn’t the first time that Cameron has sought out writing assistance, with the fantastically named Laeta Kalogridis (the writer for the new TERMINATOR film) adding a sheen of polish to AVATAR’s script roughly 800 years ago.

Bottom line, let’s all wish Friedman a hearty “good-luck”. Not only is he working with notorious ball-breaker James Cameron, but he’s also bull-baiting the collective rage of every cinephile nerd on the Internet. 

What’s worse? Perhaps we’ll see when AVATAR 2 is released post-Rapture.

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