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"Story Updated 8/2/13 3:48 a.m. ET\nFamiliar with the folk superstition that good and bad things come in threes? Well, then shame on you for thinking that James Cameron would only make two Avatar sequels.\nThe Oscar-winning director revealed on Thursday that three sequels would follow up the highest-grossing movie of all time. He also announced that screenwriters Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planets of the Apes), as well as Shane Salerno (Savages) will be joining Team Cameron to collaborate on and expedite the writing process for the three tentpoles.\nSee also: James Cameron on \"Avatar 2\" and the Impending Environmental Crisis\n\"Building upon the world we created with Avatar has been a rare and incredibly rewarding experience. In writing the new films, I've come to realize that Avatar's world, story and characters have become even richer than I anticipated, and it became apparent that two films would not be enough to capture everything I wanted to put on screen,\" Cameron said in a statement. \"And to help me continue to expand this universe, I'm pleased to bring aboard Amanda, Rick, Shane and Josh.\"\nThe first Avatar currently wears the heavyweight belt as the highest-grossing film at the domestic and worldwide box office, with more than $760 million and $2.7 billion in the bag, respectively. It also earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.\nSee also: World's First Asteroid Mining Company will Blast Off in 2013 [VIDEO]\n20th Century Fox chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos said that his studio's top priority is helping Cameron see his vision through, and added that the growing breadth and scale of his plans \"continue to amaze us all.\"\nThe first film introduced viewers to the Na'vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture, and the world of Pandora. Cameron's sequels will reportedly be filmed simultaneously with production beginning in 2014. The first is expected to hit theaters in December 2016, the second slated for December 2017 and the third, December 2018, according to Screen Rant.\nSee also: James Cameron Plans to Shoot \"Avatar\" Sequel 6.8 Miles Underwater\nAvatars 2 through 4 have Cameron and Jon Landau attached to produce through their company Lightstorm Entertainment, with Joe Letteri and Peter Jackson's Weta Digital handling the visual effects.\nWhat do you think about Cameron's mammoth-sized plans? Good three or bad three? Sound off in the comments.\nImage: 20th Century Fox\nCorrection, 8/2/13 3:48 a.m. ETA previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Avatar won an Academy Award for Best Picture; the film was nominated, but did not win."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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