James Cameron may have taken 13 years to release a second Avatar film but the director already has the sixth and seventh entries planned.
Speaking to People, the 69-year-old revealed he already has a vision for these far away films but admitted he might not direct them himself, because "mortality catches up". Avatar 3 is scheduled for 2025, Avatar 4 for 2029, and Avatar 5 for 2031, meaning Avatar 6 and 7 wouldn't release until the mid-2030s at best.
"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 said. "I mean, mortality catches up. But we're enjoying what we're doing. We're loving it. We get to work with great people."
Cameron also made clear he wants Avatar to become a cinematic universe akin to other sci-fi epics. "Star Trek, Star Wars, the world-building franchises that have been around since I was a kid, those were my inspirations," he 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."
The universe has already expanded beyond movies too, as the Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora video game was released in 2023 as a fully canon entry, even incorporating elements from the incoming third film.
Avatar 2, officially Avatar: The Way of Water, arrived in 2022 and proved an incredible success despite the 13 year wait. It ended its box office run with $2.32 billion, the third-highest of all time behind only Avangers: Endgame in second and the original Avatar in first.
In our 8/10 review, IGN said: "Avatar: The Way of Water is a clear improvement on its predecessor and, though its story isn’t breaking new ground, its jaw-dropping visuals make this an irresistible return to Pandora."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
