Director James Cameron had the perfect response to studio pushback on splitting Avatar: The Way of Water into two movies
As mentioned by Discussing Film’s Andrew J. Salazar, Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar: Fire and Ash were originally planned to be one movie, but split into two.
On the rumors that Cameron decided to press ahead with more movies without involving the studio ahead of time because they would ‘say yes anyway’, the director clarified, “I got a fair bit of pushback from the studio.”
“My counter-argument was, ‘Wait a minute, what part of you getting another chance to make two billion dollars is in question here?'”
In truth, it’s a fair point. The first Avatar movie is the highest-grossing movie of all time ($2.9 billion) and Avatar: The Way of Water currently sits in third place ($2.3 billion) behind Avengers: Endgame ($2.7 billion).
Moving forward, Avatar: Fire and Ash introduced a new Na’vi tribe into the mix, the hot-headed Mangkwan, also known as the Ash People. They are led by villain Varang (Oona Chaplin).
The first reactions to the Avatar threequel have proved overwhelmingly positive, with early audiences and critics praising the blockbuster “boundary-pushing visuals” and describing Fire and Ash as the best so far in the series.
Further down the line, Avatar 4 is scheduled for release on December 21, 2029 and Avatar 5 hits cinemas on December 19, 2031. We imagine Cameron will have a few billion in credit with the studio by then…
For more, check out our movie release dates calendar and complete guide to the upcoming movies you need to know about.
