The promise of a sequel, even sequels, to 2009’s Avatar have been omnipresent in entertainment news for over a decade now and it seems like the first of these follow-ups is closer than ever. James Cameron’s new movie in the series will not only bring back key cast members from the original film but plenty of legendary talent from across cinema, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon actress Michelle Yeoh. Speaking in a new interview, the icon if martial-arts cinema opened up about getting involved in the film and teased hopes for returning for even more films in the series (there’s potential for up to five Avatar movies when it’s all said and done).
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“So, yes, I am in the Avatar sequels and as you know we can’t really talk very much about it,” Yeoh revealed to Entertainment Weekly. “But it’s James Cameron! Come on! I would be the tea lady for James Cameron! We shot for a few weeks, and I was so impressed with the work that he’s done, the work that he’s doing, the energy. He’s a genius, he’s a walking genius. And I really really enjoyed the experience and I can’t wait to go back soon, I hope.”
For years now Cameron has been teasing that not only will there be an Avatar 2 but that scripts have been written and plans made for Avatar 3, Avatar 4, and Avatar 5. At one point, before the COVID-19 pandemic rendered almost all advance movie scheduling irrelevant, Disney had scheduled new Star Wars and Avatar movies for December release dates every year across a seven year span. Considering the conclusion of Yeoh’s quote on the subject, it seems likely that her character could pop back up if Avatar 4 and 5 get the greenlight. Even without a guarantee that it will happen, Cameron has already shot footage for the potential fourth movie.
“We mixed the schedules for 2 and 3 together, based on the types of scenes and the environments,” Cameron confirmed to Variety last year. “I said, let’s just treat it like it’s a six-hour miniseries and we’re only going to go to Frankfurt once. We’re going to shoot all the scenes from 2 and 3 at the same time. That was more or less the motif. Actor availability was an issue as well. Anything that had to be done with a specific actor, we did all the scenes for 2 and 3 together — and a little bit of 4. Because once again, I had to shoot the kids out. They’re allowed to age six years in the middle of the story on page 25 of movie 4. So I needed everything before then, and then everything after, we’ll do later.”
Avatar 2 remains scheduled to open in theaters on December 16th.
