Even though we won’t see Avatar 5 till 2031 at least, it seems like the billion-dollar franchise creator, James Cameron, already has his eyes on an even more distant future. In an interview with People during 51st Saturn Awards this weekend, the director and producer revealed that ideas for Avatar 6 and Avatar 7 are already rolling around inside his head. Cameron suggested that you can’t help but think of new stories when you are coming up with a whole universe.
The Terminator 2 and Titanic director is currently working on the post-production of Avatar 3, which is slated to premiere in 2025. There’s certainly a lot of work to be done before even considering a story for Avatar 6 and 7, but Cameron recognized that, even though he has stories, he might end up not being the one to work on them:
“We’re fully written through movie five, and I’ve got ideas for six and seven, although I’ll probably be handing the baton on at that point. I mean, mortality catches up. But I mean, we’re enjoying what we’re doing. We’re loving it. We get to work with great people.”
Cameron explained that he’ll keep working on Avatar because he sees no point in dropping an IP that people have immensely connected with. He cited Star Wars and Star Trek as inspirations, and the fact that George Lucas and Gene Roddenberry kept expanding their universes for as long as fans wanted to keep returning to them. The filmmaker also admitted he knows Avatar is a “young universe” and that if you want something to remain a cultural landmark, “you got to pour all your heart and energy into it.”
This Isn’t the First Time James Cameron Has Teased ‘Avatar 6’ and ‘Avatar 7’
Back in 2022, Cameron had already alluded to the ideas of Avatar 6 and Avatar 7. At that time, Avatar: The Way of Water hadn’t already premiered, but he stated that Avatar 3 would be released even if the sequel bombed because it had already been filmed. In order to get past the fifth installment, however, Cameron said he’d need to train a director because he wouldn’t be able to muster “the amount of energy” required to helm such an endeavor: “I don’t care how smart you are as a director, you don’t know how to do this.”
The Avatar franchise suffered a massive release date shift recently. The next three sequels were originally slated to premiere in 2024, 2026 and 2028, but Disney decided to push them back. Avatar 3 will now premiere on December 19, 2025. Avatar 4 won’t hit theaters any sooner than December 21, 2029, and Avatar 5 will likely wrap up the Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) story on December 19, 2031. Stay tuned to Collider for updates.
via Collider