Photo Credit: BANG Showbiz

James Cameron has defended the 11 year gap between the first 'Avatar' Movie and the upcoming sequels.

The 62-year-old filmmaker recently announced that the "concurrent production on four sequels" had begun and the first movie will be released in 2020, followed by the other three in 2021, 2024 and 2025 and has now defended the decade long difference.

Speaking to CNN, he said: "It was a seven year gap between 'The Terminator' and 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day', seven year gap between 'Alien' and 'Aliens'.

"It's going to be obviously more like a ten year gap between 'Avatar' and 'Avatar 2'. 

"But 'Avatar 2' you are going to with not the promise but the certainty of three more films beyond that, and that's a very different concept with the audience. And a lot of the delay has been around creating that overall vision."

Cliff Curtis will play Tonowari, the leader of the Metkayina, the reef people clan, in the Cameron-directed movies - all of which are poised to take place under water.

Cliff, 48, will be work alongside a host of returning cast members, such as Zoe Saldana, 38, Sam Worthington, 40, and Sigourney Weaver, 67, and his schedule is being tailored to fit around filming of 'Fear of the Walking Dead', according to Deadline.

The first 'Avatar' film, released in 2009, still remains the highest grossing movie at the worldwide box office, raking in as much as $2.79 billion.

And Weaver recently revealed the cast have already started work on the long-awaited follow-up film.

She said: "We're starting! We're starting training, and we're starting - hmm, I probably can't say anything. We will be actually shooting it by the fall."

The actress also reassured fans that the sequel won't be a disappointment to them, insisting the new sci-fi movie will be worth the lengthy wait.