Whether it's the Terminator movies, Titanic, or Avatar, James Cameron is a filmmaker who has grand ambitions when it comes to bringing his vision to the big screen. When the latter movie was released in 2009, a sequel certainly wasn't outside the realm of possibility, but little did we know we'd get four of them beginning with Avatar: The Way of Water thirteen years later.
That arrives in theaters this December, with Avatar 3 following in 2024. Assuming those are a success (they were shot back-to-back), then the plan is to move forward with the fourth and fifth movies.
While Cameron is the one who came up with the idea to tell the story he's dreamed up over a total of five Avatar movies, the director has told Empire Online that he may enlist another director to finish this sweeping epic. "The Avatar films themselves are kind of all-consuming," he admits. "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 pass 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."
That wouldn't be the first time, anyway, as Cameron handed the reigns of Alita: Battle Angel to Robert Rodriguez despite it being a passion project of his. Very little has been revealed about Avatar: The Way of Water's plot, never mind where the franchise goes beyond that. The filmmaker, however, sounds very excited about potentially continuing this tale with part four.
"Movie four is a corker. It’s a motherf***er," he teases. "I actually hope I get to make it. But it depends on market forces. Three is in the can so it’s coming out regardless. I really hope that we get to make four and five because it’s one big story, ultimately."
Needless to say, Cameron clearly has some epic plans for these movies!
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar: The Way of Water begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
To whet audiences' appetites, Disney/20th Century Studios will re-release Avatar in theaters on September 23. As for Avatar: The Way of Water, that arrives in theaters worldwide on December 16.