James Cameron Reveals His Avatar Plan If Fire & Ash Flops

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The new movie looks like it will be very successful, but James Cameron says he’s willing to end the series in a surprising manner if it doesn’t do well at the box office.

In a conversation on The Town podcast with Matthew Belloni, Cameron admitted he still gets anxious about every new film he starts, even Fire and Ash. Belloni pointed out several challenges facing the third Avatar movie, such as declining movie theater attendance, a quicker turnaround between sequels, and difficulties in promoting the film.

Cameron acknowledges the difficulties of making successful sequels to franchises, especially when it comes to getting people to see them in theaters.

It’s common for people to be skeptical of sequels. However, sometimes a sequel truly wraps up a story, like the third Lord of the Rings movie – you want to know how everything ends. While this film feels like a natural conclusion to the storyline, the audience might not view it that way.

While The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) concluded a three-movie series, Fire and Ash is the third film in a planned five-movie story. However, the director has stated that this new film could also be the last one made if necessary, and he seems content with that possibility.

Yes, I’ve been working on Avatar for a long time – around 30 years now, if you count back to when I first started writing it in 1995. However, I didn’t work on it constantly for the first ten years of that time.

Regarding whether Fire and Ash could be the last Avatar film, Cameron explains that the movie largely concludes the story for Jake Sully, Neytiri, and their family. Any remaining plot points can be resolved in a smaller, separate release. Cameron states, “If this is where the story ends, I’m okay with that.” He adds that there’s one loose end he plans to address by writing a book.

James Cameron has been considering whether to make Avatar 4 and 5 if Avatar: The Seed Bearer (also known as Fire and Ash) is successful. While he’s still open to letting another director take over, he emphasizes that he would remain heavily involved in any future Avatar films.

Definitely not. I have control over my involvement. I can choose how deeply I get involved and still contribute. I’ll always be closely involved in any future Avatar films, but I need to maintain a healthy work-life balance. That’s a firm boundary for me.

Belloni raises some good points about the difficulties facing Fire and Ash. Avatar: The Way of Water had a 13-year gap since the original, which built up a lot of excitement and allowed for significant improvements in the visual effects. However, the next film is coming out only three years later, so audiences shouldn’t expect quite the same level of visual advancement.

While “Fire and Ash” probably won’t surpass “The Way of Water” – currently the third-highest-grossing film ever with $2.3 billion in earnings – initial indicators suggest it will still perform reasonably well at the box office.

Okay, so the first numbers are in for Avatar 3, and it looks like it’s going to open around $110 million! Estimates are ranging from $100 to $130 million, which is exciting. It’s projected to open a little lower than The Way of Water‘s amazing $134 million debut, but honestly, even these early numbers are really promising to me as a huge fan!

Something unique about the Avatar films is that, unlike most Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, they don’t make most of their money in the first few weeks. While the first two Avatar movies didn’t have huge opening weekends considering how much they cost to make, they continued to draw audiences for months, leading to very strong overall box office results.

It’s still unclear if Avatar: Fire and Ash will be the last Avatar movie, and we likely won’t know for sure until 2026. However, James Cameron has said that if this is the end of the story for Pandora and the Sully family, the film will provide a satisfying conclusion and won’t leave viewers with unanswered questions.

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2025-11-26 23:49