James Cameron to Make Two `Avatar' Sequels for Fox

News Corp.’s Fox Filmed Entertainment said James Cameron has agreed to make two sequels to “Avatar,” the highest-grossing film of all time, as his next projects.

The installments are targeted for release in December 2014 and 2015, the movie studio said today in an e-mailed statement. Cameron will begin working on the scripts early next year and may start production later in 2011.

The planned releases could mark another boost for News Corp.’s profit. “Avatar,” which ignited viewer enthusiasm for 3-D films, has taken in $2.78 billion in worldwide box-office sales, on production costs of $230 million, according to Box Office Mojo. The movie was released on Dec. 18.

Cameron will decide if he’ll make the new films back-to- back after completing the scripts, Fox said. He will produce them with Jon Landau for Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment.

News Corp., based in New York, rose 1 cent to $14.32 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have gained 4.6 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Rabil in New York at srabil@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net

Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Film director James Cameron talks with Bloomberg's Betty Liu about the length of time it took to develop the process for creating the shots for "Avatar" and his plan to shoot two "Avatar" sequels. They spoke yesterday at the World Business Forum in New York. (Source: Bloomberg)