As the global Coronavirus outbreak has put the world on lockdown, many big-budget Hollywood projects are being pushed back and the production of several films is being shut down. Films like 'Mulan', 'Fast & Furious 9', 'No Time To Die' and 'Black Widow' have been postponed. The latest to jump the bandwagon is James Cameron's 'Avatar 2'.

The team of 'Avatar 2' was supposed to travel to New Zealand from Los Angeles this Friday for the shooting of the film. However, on Tuesday the New Zealand Film Commission sent an email to the production team to not travel to the country. The mail also mentioned that until further notice, the shooting of the film cannot be resumed. Producer Jon Landau said, "We've delayed it. We had plans to come down Friday night with a group of people and start back up and we made the decision to hold off and continue working here (in Los Angeles) and come down there a little bit later than we'd planned. We're in the midst of a global crisis and this is not about the film industry. I think everybody needs to do now whatever we can do, as we say here, to flatten the curve."

'Avatar 2' is a sequel to the 2009 blockbuster film 'Avatar'. It is an epic science fiction film directed, produced, edited, and co-written by James Cameron, and produced by 20th Century Studios. Cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, CCH Pounder, and Matt Gerald are all reprising their roles from the original film, with Sigourney Weaver returning in a different role. New cast members include Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Michelle Yeoh, Jemaine Clement, Oona Chaplin, David Thewlis, Vin Diesel, and CJ Jones. It is supposed to hit the theatres on December 17, 2021.

The film will be the first to accomplish the feat of performance capture scenes underwater- the development of which delayed the film from its original scheduled 2014 release. Subsequently, three additions were made to the franchise whose release dates are scheduled as December 2023, December 2025, and December 2027 respectively. Considering the film is high on CGI and is known for being very particular about its technical part, the question is whether this delay by New Zealand authorities will push the film further back.