James Cameron Explains Why AVATAR 4 and 5 Are Still Not Guaranteed
The Avatar films have been a box office juggernaut, pulling in over $5 billion across the first two movies. With Avatar: Fire and Ash set to hit theaters on December 19, Disney is already banking on another massive payday.
Director James Cameron is confident the third film will deliver, but he’s not ready to say that the franchise is guaranteed to continue with Avatar 4 and 5.
As it stands, Avatar 4 is scheduled for December 21, 2029, with Avatar 5 following on December 19, 2031. Still, Cameron recently explained that those films are not set in stone and may depend on how the next movie performs financially.
“The big swing in all of this is, do we make any money with Avatar 3? I mean, we’ll make some money. But the question is, what kind of a profit margin, if any, is there, and how much of an inducement is that to continue on in this universe?
“Or maybe we wait a while until we figure out how to bring costs down. Because production costs have spiraled over the last few years, especially in VFX. Everything’s gone up an enormous amount, and it’s starting to close out the type of films that I like to make.”
Cameron went on to say that there are multiple paths forward depending on how Fire and Ash lands. “
So there’s an argument for taking a pause and figuring that out. There’s an argument for going out and doing some smaller, more personal film in the meantime, while that gets figured out.
“There’s an argument, in wild success, for us just launching and just going straight into [Avatar 4 and 5] and I figure out a production methodology where I have a bit of a hiatus where I can make another film. And there’s another argument that says just go make those two damn movies and figure everything else out when I’m 80.”
The filmmaker also touched on the story itself, revealing that Fire and Ash serves as a natural endpoint before moving into a new arc.
“Two and three really tell one big story, and then ultimately, if I get so lucky and I make four and five, four and five tell one big story.
“So it kind of stops for a beat after the end of three. I don’t mean we’ll necessarily stop in production, but the story kind of stops and then it jumps forward in time a little bit.”
This isn’t Cameron being doubtful so much as cautious. He doesn’t want to assume that Avatar: Fire and Ash will automatically clear the billion-dollar mark like its predecessors, though his track record makes it hard to bet against him. Disney clearly has faith, already locking in release dates for the next two installments.
From my perspective, Disney is all in on the Avatar franchise. If they weren’t they wouldn’t be building all the Avatar attractions at their theme parks. These movies is what fuels those attractions. I’m pretty sure that Cameron will get to tell all the Avatar stories that he wants.
Whether Cameron takes a break, pivots to a smaller film, or barrels ahead into Avatar 4 and 5, the future of Pandora still looks promising. For now, fans can look forward to Avatar: Fire and Ash when it opens in theaters on December 19.