Los Angeles, Jun 17 (IANS): Actress Zoe Saldana is appalled that she will be 53 when the delayed final 'Avatar' film comes out.

Disney has put on hold the next three movies in the sci-fi franchise for a year, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Instead of a December 2024 drop, 'Avatar 3' will now be released on December 19, 2025 while 'Avatar 4' has been delayed until December 21, 2029, and 'Avatar 5' is now expected eight-and-a-half years from now, on December 19, 2031, 22 years after the first 'Avatar' movie was released in 2009.

The 44-year-old actress is dismayed at how old she will be in the last film. She reacted on her Instagram Story, "Great! I'm gonna be 53 when the last Avatar comes out (shocked face emoji).

"I was 27 when I shot the very first Avatar."

Her co-star Sam Worthington, 46, who plays Jake Sully, will be 55.

'Avatar' producer Jon Landau announced on Twitter: "Each Avatar film is an exciting but epic undertaking that takes time to bring to the quality level we as filmmakers strive for and audiences have come to expect. The team is hard at work and can't wait to bring audiences back to Pandora in December 2025."

Disney hasn't confirmed the reason behind the delays. But according to Variety, the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike in the US has played a part in the pushbacks, as has production delays.

Director James Cameron, who will be 77 when the fifth film is released, has previously said that he might hand over directing reigns for the fourth and fifth instalments.

He told Empire magazine: "I think eventually over time - I don't know if that's after three or after four - I'll want to pass the baton to a director that I trust to take over, so I can go do some other stuff that I'm also interested in. Or maybe not. I don't know."