James Cameron Confirms Production of 'Avatar 4' and '5' Due to Profitability of 'Avatar 2'
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Avatar: The Way of Water is proving to be hugely successful, dominating the global box office. At the beginning of the year, the critically acclaimed sequel passed the top 15 highest-grossing film mark with $1.37 billion USD.
In a recent episode of HBO Max's Who's Talking to Chris Wallace?, the director highlighted that the expensively-budgeted sequel has crossed $1.5 billion USD at the global box office, officially surpassing Top Gun: Maverick as the highest-grossing film released in 2022. It appears that the studio's bet on James Cameron is looking to be an ultra-profitable one, as the director states that the film is on track to "easily" pass the break-even point at the box office. With that in mind, the success is setting the gears in motion for the production of the additional sequels.
In the conversation, Cameron reveals, "It looks like just with the momentum that the film has now that will easily pass our break even in the next few days, so it looks like I can't wiggle out of this, I'm gonna have to do these other sequels." The director is speaking to Avatar 4 and 5, since Avatar 3 is already slated to release in 2024. He adds,
"I know what I'm going to be doing the next six or seven years. The point is we're going to be okay. I'm sure that we'll have a discussion soon with with the top folks at Disney about the game plan going forward for Avatar 3, which is already in the can – we've already captured and photographed the whole film so we're in extended post-production to do all that CG magic. And then Avatar 4 and 5 are both written. We even have some of 4 in the can. We've begun a franchise at this point. We’ve begun a saga that can now play out over multiple films."
Cameron also clarified that rumors of the second film needing to earn at least $2 billion USD was a mere rumor, "To clarify, I never actually gave it a number. I said it would has to be among the highest-grossing films in history and somebody else applied that number and it got picked up. The number is actually less." In another recent interview with French newspaper 20 Minutes, the IndieWire reported that Cameron will be introducing a new Na'vi clan centered around fire in Avatar 3. "The fire will be represented by the 'Ash People.' I want to show the Na'vi from another angle because, so far, I have only shown their good sides. In the early films, there are very negative human examples and very positive Na'vi examples. In Avatar 3, we will do the opposite. We will also explore new worlds, while continuing the story of the main characters. I can say that the last parts will be the best. The others were an introduction, a way to set the table before serving the meal."
Barring any delays, Avatar 3 is set to release on December 20, 2024.
In other entertainment news, Benedict Cumberbatch is set to star in the new Netflix limited series titled, Eric.
