James Cameron Fired Back at Studio Pushback On Splitting AVATAR Sequel: “What part of you getting a chance to make two billion dollars is in question here?”
When you talk about filmmakers who bet big and win even bigger, James Cameron is at the top of the food chain. The director is deep into building out his ambitious Avatar saga and a recent revelation about how Avatar: The Way of Water became two films shows just how confidently he plays the long game.
Some fans of Avatar may be curious about the creative decisions behind the expanding franchise and Cameron just offered a perfectly Cameron answer about the whole situation.
According to Discussing Film’s Andrew J. Salazar, Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar: Fire and Ash were originally designed as a single movie before production realities turned them into two.
Rumors started swirling that Cameron simply pushed ahead without looping in the studio because they would approve anything he wanted anyway. Cameron shut that idea down quickly.
He explained, “I got a fair bit of pushback from the studio. My counter-argument was, 'Wait a minute, what part of you getting another chance to make two billion dollars is in question here?'”
Honestly, it is hard to argue with the guy. The original Avatar remains the highest grossing film ever with $2.9 billion worldwide and Avatar: The Way of Water currently holds the number three spot with $2.3 billion , sitting just behind Avengers: Endgame. If Cameron says splitting the story made sense, history suggests he knows what he’s doing.
Now that the two film structure is locked in, Avatar: Fire and Ash is set to push the series into new territory. The movie introduces the Mangkwan, an entirely new Na’vi tribe known as the Ash People.
They are a pissed off clan led by the menacing Varang played by Oona Chaplin. Early recations for the film have been shared and critics are calling out the “boundary-pushing visuals”, with some even saying Fire and Ash is the best entry in the series so far.
Avatar 4 is scheduled to hit theaters on December 21, 2029 and Avatar 5 arrives December 19, 2031. By that point the studio will probably be thanking him for every one of those extra movies he insisted on making. After all, if his track record continues, they might each come with another couple billion attached.