Fans will be relieved to hear that Avatar 4 and 5 will continue one important franchise trend. Later this year, audiences will be welcomed back to Pandora, as Avatar: Fire and Ash comes to theaters after a two-year gap between films (which is much shorter than the more than a decade between Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water). However, director James Cameron is not stopping there, with plans for at least two more movies with release dates in 2029 and 2031.
After Avatar 3, Cameron has been eyeing his first non-Avatar feature since 1997's Titanic, leading some to believe the renowned filmmaker may be ready to hand off his ground-breaking sci-fi series to someone else for the next two movies. That does not look like it will be the case, at least according to Cameron.
In a recent conversation with Empire, the Avatar director revealed he hopes to direct both Avatar 4 and 5, continuing the franchise trend of having Cameron be the sole filmmaker to helm a film in the series.
When asked if he would sit in the director's chair once again for the 2029 and 2031 sequels (which are rumored to end the billion-dollar-making movie franchise), Cameron remarked that "I mean, there's no reason not to:"
I mean, there's no reason not to. I’m healthy, I'm good to go."
However, this came with the caveat that the now-70 Cameron would not rule out being forced to step back because of his age. "I've got to make it in a vigorous way," the Academy Award-winner posited, adding, "I might not be able to do that:"
I’m not going to rule it out. 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."
It should be reassuring for fans to hear that Cameron still seems enthusiastic about the Avatar franchise and does not see himself going anywhere on the series, as long as his health holds up in the meantime.
Production on Avatar 4 is reported to finish up sometime in 2026, after the release of this December's Avatar: Fire and Ash. Filming on the fourth and fifth Avatar movies has technically started, with all four of the final Avatar movies said to have started an interconnected production schedule in 2017.
Avatar: Fire and Ash (aka Avatar 3) is the most imminent of the Avatar sequels, coming to theaters on December 19. The new movie from the Terminator 2 and Titanic filmmaker will once again follow Sam Worthington's Jake Sully, a human who has possessed the body of an alien known as a Na'vi on the far-off planet of Pandora.
Joining Worthington on the Avatar 3 cast will be Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Britain Dalton, among others (read more about the Avatar: Fire and Ash cast here).
Why James Cameron's Avatar 4 and 5 Update Is a Big Deal
Hearing that James Cameron is at least planning on directing the final two Avatar movies (Avatar 4 and 5) is about the best thing fans could have heard about the upcoming sequels.
While it has always been assumed Cameron would take the helm on both movies, given the director's age and the potential that he may want to work on other projects, his coming back for 4 and 5 was no guarantee.
Some had thought that perhaps, the iconic Canadian filmmaker would hand off Avatar to someone else, in the same way that George Lucas did with the original Star Wars trilogy. In that instance, Cameron would have likely passed the baton to another director while still maintaining control over where he saw the story going.
This news, however, essentially locks in that Camerson is going to do everything he can to make sure he is the one who sees the Avatar franchise through.
Considering the director had been dreaming up the story for the ground-breaking sci-fi franchise since the early '90s, it would make sense that he is behind the wheel to see it through.
And with work done on the Avatar sequels since around 2013, perhaps this will allow Cameron to explore what he wants to do next after (or between) the Avatar sequels.
Rumor has it that the director is eyeing an adaptation of Joe Abercrombie's fantasy novel, The Devils. Maybe, with production on Avatar 4 and 5 starting in some form and 4 ready to finish filming next year, Cameron can break up his Avatar work with this new fantasy epic before returning for Avatar 5.
