After a long thirteen-year wait, James Cameron is finally unveling the first of his Avatar sequels, The Way of Water. It’s going to be an uphill climb for the film to come near the record-breaking box office of its predecessor, especially with Cameron acknowledging it must come close just to break even. However, if it does do well and Disney releases the next three sequels, Cameron has ideas beyond Avatar 5.
Speaking with THR, Cameron said that if Disney and audiences are still eager for more after Avatar 5 in 2028, then he’s got some early plans for chapters 6 and 7. Whether Cameron would be up for directing them is another story, though…
“I’d be 89 by then. Obviously, I’m not going to be able to make ‘Avatar’ movies indefinitely, the amount of energy required. 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.”
If The Way of Water doesn’t perform as hoped, Cameron has suggested the whole thing could end in three movies instead of five. He also says the third movie is too far along to scrap now, no matter what the box office looks like…
“We’ll probably finish movie three regardless because it’s all shot. 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.”
Avatar: The Way of Water opens on December 16th.
