Kate Winslet has officially joined the cast of Avatar 2, two decades after working with James Cameron on Titanic. Filming for the long awaited four Avatar sequels began in late September, with a reported production budget of over $1 billion dollars, making it the most expensive movie series in history. The first Avatar, released in 2009, is the highest-grossing worldwide release of all time with a whopping $2.7 billion dollars and it looks as if Cameron and the studio are placing their bets that the upcoming sequence will be on par with the first installment.

Deadline reports that Kate Winslet has joined the world of Avatar in a starring role as Ronal. Reuniting with director James Cameron is something that both the actress and director have been wanting to do since they made hugely successful Titanic back in 1997. James Cameron revealed that working with Winslet on Titanic was one of the most rewarding events of his career. Cameron explains.

"Kate and I have been looking for something to do together for 20 years, since our collaboration on Titanic, which was one of the most rewarding of my career. I can't wait to see her bring the character of Ronal to life."

She joins returning cast members Sam Worthington (Jake Sully), Zoe Saldana (Neytiri), Sigourney Weaver (Dr. Grace Augustine), and Stephen Lang (Colonel Quaritch), plus new additions Cliff Curtis and Oona Chaplin. Producer Jon Landau has said, "People respond because of the movie's characters, themes, and emotions, and we have all that again. When the cast read what Jim Cameron wrote for the sequels, it hit them with even greater resonance than the first movie." Excitement is certainly high for fans of the soon-to-be mega franchise, but it's reassuring to hear that the cast is just as excited to begin work on the mammoth undertaking.

It isn't clear at this time if Kate Winslet's Ronal character will be on board for all four installments of Avatar or if this will be a one-off. James Cameron has recently said that the next 4 Avatar movies will take up the next 8 years of his life while also mentioning that the movie has become his day job and now that production has begun. The sequel is expected to hit theaters in December 18th, 2020 with the additional Avatar follow-ups releasing on December 17th, 2021, December 20th, 2024, and finally December 19th, 2015. As if that weren't enough, Cameron is expected to begin producing the Terminator reboot in that time frame as well.

Academy Award winning Kate Winslet will next be seen on the big screen later this week with Idris Elba in The Mountain Between Us and later will appear in Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel for Amazon, which will premiere in December. She will also star in eOne's untitled biopic about American photojournalist and war correspondent Elizabeth "Lee" Miller. It looks as if Winslet's work ethic is right on par with James Cameron's, which might explain why the duo like working together. You can check out everything Cameron had to say courtesy of Deadline.