Avatar: Fire and Ash made $1 billion at the global box office, but it seems that a billion dollars doesn’t go quite as far as it used to. Even before the film had opened, James Cameron seemed to be managing expectations, indicating it was a real question when, or even if, the previously announced Avatar 4 and 5 might actually happen.
We still haven’t heard anything about the next two Avatar movies, but some recent comments from producer Rae Sanchini to ScreenRant would seem to indicate that production on those films, as well as the highly-anticipated Fantastic Voyage remake, might not be far off. She said…
It could be. [Fantastic Voyage has] been long in the works and we are moving forward and can’t announce anything, but we are in the works coming up in very early stages. That’s been kind of a dream project of ours for some time. And then the Avatar films are a very long lead time process, so we’re going to have to get started on those pretty soon as well. And then Jim’s got another few things that he’s always kicking around. Sure. A lot of original ideas.
Sanchini’s statement could be read to mean that the final two Avatar movies are happening, it’s just a question of exactly when. This is certainly the most positive statement about the movies that we’ve heard in recent months. However, until we get an announcement on when production is starting, we can’t know for sure. Still, this has to be seen as a good sign for fans who want to see the Avatar franchise wrap up.
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That doesn’t mean we’re going to be seeing the films anytime soon. As Rae Sanchini points out, the reason work would need to get started soon is that it’s a very long process. Avatar 4 is currently on the upcoming Disney movie calendar for a December 2029 release, and Avatar 5 is supposed to hit two years after that. For the movies to hit those dates, things will need to get started soon.
This is because the expectation is that the next two Avatar movies will be filmed at the same time, so the actual shooting schedule will be twice as long as that of your average blockbuster. On top of that, since every single frame of the movies will need post-production digital effects, that process will take a long time.
Of course, Rae Sanchini also mentioned the other James Cameron projects that he has “kicking around,” and Cameron himself has indicated that he may want to do some things other than Avatar in the future. That could be an indication that he’s not looking to jump right into more movies set on Pandora, or it could indicate a hope to get those movies done quickly so he has more time to focus on other things.
Hopefully all this means that news about the last two Avatar movies is coming soon. The title of Avatar 3 was revealed at D23 two years ago. Perhaps this year’s event will reveal the franchise’s future.