James Cameron has made three Avatar movies to date, and if it was up to him, he’d make more of them for years and years. He’s previously said he intends to direct a fourth and fifth Avatar movie, and he’s even suggested he has ideas for a sixth and seventh movie beyond those — although at 71 years old, it might be wishful thiknking to imagine he might be around and productive enough to make four more of these things.
But Avatar movies cost a ton of money to make and if they don’t perform, the fate of the franchise could be in jeopardy. During a wide-ranging interview on The Town podcast, Cameron conceded that there is a world (not called Pandora, obviously) where the new Avatar: Fire and Ash is the final entry in the franchise.
“I have no doubt in my mind that this movie will make money,” Cameron said. “The question is, does it make enough money to justify doing it again?”
20th Century Cinemas
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Cameron shot most of the live-action and motion-capture footage for the second and third Avatars simultaneously; that’s not true of the next movies. Likewise, the second film, Avatar: The Way of Water, left a lot of unresolved storylines to continue in Avatar: Fire and Ash. In contrast, Fire and Ash has a lot fewer cliffhangers according to Cameron.
“There is one open thread, and if it ends there theatrically, I’ll write a book,” Cameron said on The Town. (James Cameron Avatar books sound kind of great, to be honest.)
Unless he changes his plans, Cameron committing to one Avatar really means committing to two Avatars, because he has said Avatars 4 and 5 are meant to go together like The Way of Water and Fire and Ash — which also means committing most of his 70s to making these things. It also means 20th Century Studios (AKA Disney) would be committing hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars on these twin projects. After The Way of Water, I assumed Cameron would be making these movies until he merged with the Tree of Souls some day. Now … I’m not so sure.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is scheduled to open in theaters on December 19. After that … only Eywa knows.
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