Sigourney Weaver set for AVATAR 2, 3, 4

Sigourney Weaver has inked a deal to return to the Avatar sequels in a new role, according to Deadline.

Weaver is said to be playing a new character, according to writer/director James Cameron. “Sigourney and I have a long creative history, dating back to 1985 when we made Aliens,” Cameron said. “We’re good friends who’ve always worked well together, so it just feels right that she’s coming back for the Avatar sequels. Her character of Grace Augustine, as fans know, died in the first movie, so she’s playing a different and in many ways more challenging character in the upcoming films. We’re both looking forward to this new creative challenge, the latest chapter in our long and continuing collaboration.”

Likely this “more challenging character” will be the Na’vi deity Eywa, given that Weaver has signed on for three sequels and will need a more durable character.

In the meanwhile, Cameron is also working on a live stage version of Avatar in cooperation with Cirque du Soleil.

Weaver is also open to a return to both the Ghostbusters and Alien franchises, telling Vanity Fair that she would consider playing Dana Barrett again if son Oscar is a Ghostbuster. At the time, Ivan Reitman (who is no longer directing) told her, “We’ve already done that.” And at the Hero Complex Film Festival, she speculated on what a fifth Alien movie would be like, adding, “I could imagine a situation where we finish telling the story.”