Will James Cameron Direct More ‘Avatar’ Films? The Answer Is Up In The Air

Avatar: Fire and Ash — James Cameron’s third movie in the “Avatar” franchise— is new in theaters. Will the Oscar-winning filmmaker return to Pandor for more chapters in the science fiction franchise or call it a day?

Cameron wrote and directed the first Avatar film in 2009, which not only was nominated for nine Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, but also went on through its original theatrical run and re-releases to gross more than $2.92 billion at the worldwide box office to date.

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And while Avatar’s first sequel — 2022’s Avatar: Fire and Ash — wasn’t as big a success as the original film, it still went on to make more than $2.34 billion in ticket sales globally to make it the third highest-grossing film of all-time worldwide. Another Cameron blockbuster, Titanic, holds the No. 4 spot on the list after grossing $2.26 billion in theaters.

Avatar: Fire and Ash, which features the return of the married Na’vi warriors Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), is set mere weeks after the events of Avatar: The Way of Water. Part of the new film examines how Jake, Neytiri and their family are processing the loss Neteyam (Jamie Flatters).

The oldest son of Jake and Neytiri, Neteyam was killed during the Na’vi and Metkayina clan’s battle with the Earth’s Resources Development Administration (aka the Sky People) in Avatar: The Way of Water.

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Jake and Neytiri’s troubles don’t end there, however. As the avatar of the late Marine Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and the RDA are still bearing down on the Na’vi and Metkayina clans, another brutal enemy emerges in the form of the Mangkwan Clan — aka the Ash People — which is led by the bloodthirsty Varang (Oona Chaplin).

James Cameron Says The New ‘Avatar’ Movie ‘Can Be The Last One’

With the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash in theaters, James Cameron is finding himself at a creative crossroads. For years, the filmmaker has said that he was going to make five Avatar films in total and told The Hollywood Reporter this week that he’s already at work on No. 4.

At the same time, Cameron has discussed the possibility of scrapping the last two films. In the interview with THR, the filmmaker said it may depend on how well Avatar: Fire and Ash performs in theaters over the next month.

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“This can be the last one. There’s only one [unanswered question] in the story,” Cameron told THR. “We may find that the release of Avatar 3 proves how diminished the cinematic experience is these days, or we may find it proves the case that it’s as strong as it ever was — but only for certain types of films. It’s a coin toss right now. We won’t know until the middle of January.”

Asked by THR how he wants the film to perform, Cameron replied to the trade publication, “I feel I’m at a bit of a crossroads. Do I want it to be a wild success — which almost compels me to continue and make two more Avatar movies? Or do I want it to fail just enough that I can justify doing something else?”

Could ‘Avatar’ Return Without James Cameron As Director?

If Avatar: Fire and Ash is as much a “wild success” as the first two Avatar films, but James Cameron wants to move on to do something else, would the filmmaker hand the director’s reins to another filmmaker?

It’s a question Cameron has been contemplating for at least three-and-a-half years, telling Empire Online in July of 2022, “The Avatar films themselves are kind of all-consuming. I’ve got some other things I’m developing as well that are exciting. I think eventually over time – I don’t know if that’s after three or after four – I’ll want to p*** the baton to a director that I trust to take over, so I can go do some other stuff that I’m also interested in. Or maybe not. I don’t know.”

Since then, Cameron has clearly changed his mind, telling Empire Magazine in July that he was game to direct the fourth and fifth Avatar films himself simply because “there’s no reason not to.”

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“I’m healthy, I’m good to go. I’m not going to rule it out,” Cameron told Empire in a piece that was published about three weeks before his 71st birthday. “I mean, I’ve got to make it in a vigorous way, to handle the kind of volume and energy of the work for another six or seven years. You know what I mean? I might not be able to do that.”

The good news is, if Cameron does decide to proceed with directing Avatar 4 and 5, he won’t be starting at square one.

“I’ve got the scripts and we’ve done preliminary designs on four and five and we’re ready to roll into it,” Cameron told Deadline in June. “But audiences’ tastes shift, and maybe the movie won’t exactly be what they want it to be. Who knows? We’ll find out. We always find out the hard way.”

Avatar: Fire and Ash is new in theaters worldwide.

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