The long-awaited Avatar sequel, directed by James Cameron, will premiere in mainland Chinese theatres on December 16, according to 20th Century Studios.

The studio announced on its official Weibo account that Avatar: The Way of Water will be released in China on the same day as the rest of the world. The most recent instalment in the Minions franchise and Where the Crawdads Sing are among the few foreign films to have gained access to the Chinese market recently.

Owing to stringent limits on the quantity of foreign films that can be shown, as well as the fact that many of them are blocked due to content that Chinese censors deem objectionable, foreign films have long struggled to get release dates in mainland China. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the six most recent Marvel films were both barred from China earlier this year.

Along with an increase in China's film studios producing their own versions of the great blockbusters US studios are known for, there has been more criticism of Hollywood cinema. 

The Wolf Warrior franchise and The Battle at Changjin Lake, which had breakout success last year, are examples of Chinese-made films that have proven to be successful with the audiences eager to see more Chinese-centric storylines on the big screen.

Cameron and the 20th Century Studio have already made a deal to release three more sequels of the film, excluding the upcoming one. Avatar: The Way Of Water will release on 16th December 2022. The third, fourth, and fifth sequels are expected to release in 2024, 2026, & 2028 respectively.