When you’ve shattered all kinds of box office records on your way to delivering the biggest film of all time, it’s natural that you’re going to start thinking sequels. For obvious reasons, that didn’t quite pan out for James Cameron with Titanic, but the filmmaker certainly made up for its when he announced that he’d be making FOUR follow-ups to 2009’s Avatar.
Many scoffed at the idea, especially when the original plan was to shoot all four back-to-back-to-back-to-back, but after splitting them in half and spending the next decade focussing on the first two sequels, Cameron is once again laughing all the way to the bank with Avatar: The Way of Water.
Heading into this weekend, The Way of Water has grossed over $1.56 billion, surpassing Top Gun: Maverick as 2022’s highest earner and climbing to ninth in the all-time chart (a position it will improve on when this weekend’s earnings are announced). And while Cameron was initially reported to have said that the film would need to become “the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history”, he’s now conceded that the film is already well on its way to profit and as a result, he’s “gonna have” to do Avatar 4 and Avatar 5.
“It looks like with the momentum that the film has now that we’ll easily pass our break even in the next few days, so it looks like I can’t wiggle out of this and I’m gonna have to do these other sequels,” Cameron told GQ in an interview during the week. “I know what I’m going to be doing the next six or seven years.”
“I’m sure that we’ll have a discussion soon with the top folks at Disney about the game plan going forward for Avatar 3, which is already in the can – we’ve already captured and photographed the whole film, so we’re in extended post-production to do all that CG magic,” he continued. “And then Avatar 4 and 5 are both written. We even have some of 4 in the can. We’ve begun a franchise at this point. We’ve begun a saga that can now play out over multiple films.”
SEE ALSO: As Avatar 2 dominates the box office, James Cameron laments the stories he didn’t get to make
At present, Avatar 3 is scheduled for release on December 20th 2024, with Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 pencilled in for December 2026 and December 2028. Given the length of time Cameron’s spent on the first two films (and the number of previous release date delays for the sequels), those 2026 and 2028 dates certainly look a little optimistic, unless he decides to hand over some of the directing duties to another filmmaker – something he recently teased as a possibility for Avatar 6 and Avatar 7.
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.
Avatar: The Way of Water is directed by James Cameron and sees Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Matt Gerald, Dileep Rao, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, and Sigourney Weaver all reprising their roles from the 2009 blockbuster, while new additions to the cast include Kate Winslet, Oona Chaplin, Cliff Curtis, Britain Dalton, Filip Geljo, Jamie Flatters, Bailey Bass, Trinity Bliss, Jack Champion, Duane Evans Jr., Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Michelle Yeoh, Jemaine Clement, Keston John, and CJ Jones.
Avatar: The Way of Water is in cinemas now.
