James Cameron knew everything about his Avatar sequels was going to be epic. The stories, the effects, even the sheer number of them. He also predicted that the first sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, would be about three hours long and made Fox agree to it long before Disney bought the company. He’s a confident man — and in an excellent new profile, he shows it, with a ton of new information about the films, and just an all-time mic drop quote.
“I said [to Disney], ‘You bought this from a bunch of guys at Fox who agreed to a three-hour movie,’ because that’s what we said we were going to do. We’re going to play the epic game,” Cameron told the Hollywood Reporter. But it gets better. The reporter then asked the director when might be a good time for audiences to take a quick bathroom break. “Any time they want,” he said. “They can see the scene they missed when they come see it again.”
Yup. James Cameron not only knows you’re going to see Avatar: The Way of Water, he thinks you’re going to come back and see it again. Which, frankly, most people might have to if we’re going to see the full scope of what Cameron had planned. There have already been reports of how much the sequel has to gross to become profitable but there’s also the question of is there a world where the third film, or fourth or fifth, doesn’t happen.
“We’ll probably finish movie three regardless because it’s all shot,” Cameron said. “We’d have to really crater for it not to seem like it was worth the additional investment. We’d have to leave a smoking hole in the ground. Now, hopefully, we get to tell the whole thing because five’s better than four, four’s better than three, and three’s better than two.”
Why stop there though? According to the piece, Cameron already has ideas for Avatar 6 and 7 too, though he probably won’t make them himself if they happen. “Obviously, I’m not going to be able to make Avatar movies indefinitely,” Cameron said. “I would have to train somebody how to do this because, I don’t care how smart you are as a director, you don’t know how to do this.”
Those are just a few of the quotes in the Hollywood Reporter’s incredible profile. We urge you head over there to read it in full and check back soon for more on Avatar: The Way of Water, which opens December 16.
Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water.