'Avatar' Sequel Likely Won't Arrive In 2014

"Avatar" producer Jon Landau claims the blockbuster's sequel seems headed for inevitable delay, Empire reports.

"2014 will be a tough date for us to make," Landau said. "It's about getting it right.

"Movies make release dates; release dates don't make movies," he added.

While he had to be the bearer of bad news concerning the possible bump to a 2015 release, Landau added that pre-production has indeed begun. As Empire speculates, that means that a possible third chapter could wait until possibly 2016 or 2017 at the earliest.

"We've started already," Landau said. "WETA are already working and we have our core team, [animation supervisor] Richie Baneham and [digital effects supervisor] Nolan Murtha, working with us. And we're working on underwater performance-capture.

"It's going to be like the floating mountains in the first movie," Landau continued. "It's not going to be all underwater; it's going to be a place we go to, leave and come back to."

When the site previously caught up with Landau this past January, he claimed off-hand that the release would come some time in "that [2014, 2015] window."

For more from the producer, check out the interview clip below.