Avatar became the highest-grossing movie of all time when it was released in 2009, and director James Cameron has spent the years since then dreaming up at least four sequels that we know of. The first of them, The Way of Water, will be released this December, while the third movie is currently in post-production.
While it's hard to imagine either of those movies matching the record-breaking earnings of their predecessor, the hope is that Avatar: The Way of Water will still be a massive box office hit. Outside of Top Gun: Maverick's unexpected overperformance, nothing this year has really been the jolt in the arm theaters so desperately need in the wake of the pandemic.
That's not to say we haven't seen some big hits, but it feels a lot like all hopes are now resting on Avatar: The Way of Water.
For Cameron, he's not too worried about the possibility that his next Avatar movie could be a box office disappointment, and admits that he would be happy to finish this story as a trilogy and just scrap the planned fourth and fifth chapters if necessary.
"The market could be telling us we're done in three months, or we might be semi-done, meaning: 'Okay, let's complete the story within movie three, and not go on endlessly,' if it's just not profitable," the filmmaker acknowledges. "We're in a different world now than we were when I wrote this stuff, even. It's the one-two punch - the pandemic and streaming."
"Or, conversely, maybe we'll remind people what going to the theater is all about. This film definitely does that. The question is: how many people give a s*** now?"
That's a very pertinent question, though the success Avatar had when it was re-released back in September suggests a lot of people do still give a s***. There's still no word on whether The Way of Water has secured a Chinese release, and if not, we can forget about the sequel matching the first movie's $2.9 billion haul at the worldwide box office.
Assuming it turns a profit, though, we're sure this 3D franchise is going to be here to stay.
Avatar: The Way of Water splashes down in theaters worldwide on December 16.