James Cameron announces three upcoming 'Avatar' sequels will be shot in New Zealand

Director James Cameron announced on Monday that he will continue filming in New Zealand for the Avatar sequels. They will be filming three sequels to the 2009 blockbuster at the same time over a period of 9 months starting in 2015. And of course, they will be shot in 3D.

According to Entertaiment Weekly, The announcement was made in Wellington, New Zealand alongside producer Jon Landau and Prime Minister John Key. Cameron said that the plan is for the first of the three sequels to likely be released around Christmas of 2016, the next in late 2017, and late 2018 for the third.

Cameron's outstanding work in the first Avatar led to it being the highest-grossing film in history, bringing in a whopping $2.8 billion and three Academy Awards.

"It's quite a thrill to be officially saying that we're bringing the Avatar films to New Zealand," Cameron told a press conference. "We had such a wonderful experience here making the first film."

The country is no stranger to major box office films being shot on its lush location as Peter Jackson famously filmed The Hobbit trilogy there. But since then, the New Zealand film industry hasn't had much action.

A 25 percent rebate for the films will come from the New Zealand government, and in the agreement Lightstorm and Twentieth Century Fox are set to spend $413 million in New Zealand for the movies. But Cameron didn't disclose what the entire budget would be, though he did say that he hopes all three films can me made for under $1 billion.

"It's a day of great celebration," Key said. "It's a great Christmas present for those involved in making world class movies."