James Cameron Has a Plan if Avatar: The Way of Water Bombs

It’s been thirteen years since the release of Avatar, the Best Picture nominee from James Cameron that remains the highest grossing movie of all-time. Though the recent re-release of the movie proved there’s still an appetite to see this world on the big screen, the lengthy time between the first film and its upcoming sequel has prompted many to wonder: “Does anyone care about an Avatar 2?” As one might imagine, James Cameron himself has already considered that question as well, and has an answer. Speaking in the new issue of Total Film Magazine (H/T SlashFilm), Cameron revealed what the game plan will probably be if Avatar: The Way of Water comes and goes with audiences.

Cameron said, “The market could be telling us we’re done in three months, or we might be semi-done, meaning: ‘Okay, let’s complete the story within movie three, and not go on endlessly,’ if it’s just not profitable … We’re in a different world now than we were when I wrote this stuff, even. It’s the one-two punch – the pandemic and streaming. Or, conversely, maybe we’ll remind people what going to the theater is all about. This film definitely does that. The question is: how many people give a s*** now?”

Luckily for Cameron, the box office returns on Avatar’s re-release earlier this year revealed that plenty of people do give a s**t as the 13-year-old movie still brought in over $25 million at the domestic box office in two weeks of release. Early tracking for Avatar: The Way of Water’s box office back in September also estimated a $650 million haul at the domestic box office, enough to probably prove that people still care and insuring Avatar 3 and probably Avatar 4.

Jon Landau, the film’s producer, previously confirmed that filming on Avatar 2 and 3 were happening at the same time, and even though the greenlight for Avatar 4 hadn’t happened yet, filming on some scenes for the potential sequel had already occurred. 

“We’ve completed most of the first act of ‘Avatar 4‘ and there were logistical reasons why we needed to do that,” Landau revealed in an interview with Variety  . “We’ve designed most of the whole movie for ‘Avatar 4‘ but we haven’t actually filmed all of it – just the first act.”

Avatar: The Way of Water is set to arrive on December 16, 2022, with Avatar 3 set to debut two years later on December 20, 2024.