With Avatar: Fire and Ash released, the box office-busting franchise is now a trilogy. However, James Cameron has plans for a quintology. So will the acclaimed director make a fourth installment, or is Fire and Ash’s $1 billion grossing a billion too few for him?
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The Avatar franchise is, at its heart, a set of movies made for the cinema. And James Cameron has been very candid that whether he keeps going or not is in the hands of the box office.
When talking to The Hollywood Reporter two days before the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, he said, “This can be the last one. There’s only one [unanswered question] in the story. We may find that the release of Avatar 3 proves how diminished the cinematic experience is these days, or we may find it proves the case that it’s as strong as it ever was — but only for certain types of films. It’s a coin toss right now. We won’t know until the middle of January.”
Let’s not get too cynical here. James Cameron loves the world he’s built, as is obvious by the rest of the interview. But he’s also pragmatic, and if people don’t want to see more Avatar, then he’ll take the hint.
We’re nearing the halfway mark of January, so we’re asking the question: Will the $1 billion Avatar: Fire and Ash have made justify another Avatar film, or is it not enough for the director?
James Cameron Wants To Make More ‘Avatar’ Films, But Will He?
In comparison, Avatar (2009) has made nearly $3 billion, and Avatar: Way of Water (2022), is only roughly $600,000 behind. With Fire and Ash making only $1.1 billion, will James Cameron bother?
As far as anyone is concerned, the fourth and even the fifth installment are happening. James Cameron has already shot some scenes in anticipation of directing the next two installments.
But I can’t help but wonder if being the current 38th highest-grossing movie of all time is a disappointment in comparison. Cameron is ready to step down if he needs to, and I’m concerned that anything less than $2 billion will make him end the franchise here.
As he said, however, “it’s a coin toss right now.”