Los Angeles, Dec 23 (IANS): Filmmaker James Cameron says the sequel of the world's highest grossing epic science fiction film “Avatar” will release on Christmas in 2017.

Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang and Michelle Rodriguez in lead roles, “Avatar”, which released in 2009, grossed over two billion worldwide making it the only film to do so.

While attending the premiere of the Pandora-inspired Canadian entertainment company Cirque Du Soleil's show "Toruk: The First Flight", Cameron gave away some information about the follow-up movie, which is said to be the beginning of a trilogy of "Avatar" sequels, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"Christmas of 2017 is the target... At least, that's what we've announced. But I don't consider that to be as important as the fact that when we get all three films done, we drop them a year apart. I call it a meta-narrative that runs across the three movies. Each film stands alone, but it also tells one much larger story," Cameron said.

Worthington and Saldana will reprise their roles as Jake Sully and Neytiri in the upcoming sequel.