Just when you thought five Avatar movies seemed like more than enough, James Cameron drops another bombshell. Speaking at the Saturn Awards, the co-writer and director of the mega sci-fi franchise revealed that while the next three films have already been written and scheduled, the series could continue past that. And he’s already got ideas.
“We’re fully written through movie five, and I’ve got ideas for six and seven, although I’ll probably be handing the baton on at that point,” Cameron told People. “I mean, mortality catches up. But I mean, we’re enjoying what we’re doing. We’re loving it. We get to work with great people.”
Cameron and his team are currently in the middle of additional filming on Avatar 3, which is scheduled for release in December 2025. There will then be a four-year gap before 2029’s Avatar 4 and then another two years before Avatar 5 in 2031. (At least for now, these release dates have changed more times than you even remember.) Cameron turns 70 this year and while he certainly could be capable of making movies into his 80s, it seems he’s already planning ahead.
“Star Trek, Star Wars, the world-building franchises that have been around since I was a kid, those were my inspirations,” Cameron said. “We’re still a young universe. We’re only two movies in. We’re halfway through our third right now. To have that kind of cultural impact over time, you got to pour all your heart and energy into it.”
When he puts it that way, you sort of begin to see his point. Star Wars is still going strong almost 50 years later. Star Trek is almost 60. Both have movies, TV shows, comics, books, etc. Avatar, from that point of view, is only 15 years old and only two movies deep. Plus, each of the first two movies was wildly successful. If the rest even do half as well as the first two, everyone involved will want them to go on as long as possible.
“People are always asking us, ‘So why did you just keep working in the same [universe]?’” Cameron said. “Why did [George] Lucas keep working in the same thing? Why did [Gene] Roddenberry keep working in the same thing? Because when you connect with people, why would you squander that? Why would you start over with something else that might not connect?”
Read more of Cameron’s quotes over on People, and tell us how old you’ll be in 2035 when Avatar 6 would hypothetically come out.
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