Supposedly, James Cameron wants to release his rumored 9-hour-long director's cut of ‘Avatar 3’ on Disney+ after the theatrical release.
According to Jeff Sneider:
Remember that 9-hour cut of AVATAR 3 that I told you James Cameron was insisting on having finished VFX for? I hear it could hit Disney+ as a limited series AFTER the theatrical cut of the film...
Sneider reported last December that Cameron had a 9-hour cut of Avatar 3, but the visual effects still needed to be completed.
The 2009 original was 2 hours and 41 minutes, while last year’s ‘The Way of Water’ ran for 3 hours and 12 minutes. The theatrical version of ‘Avatar 3’ will probably be over 3-hours again.
Cameron has already hinted about what to expect with ‘Avatar 3.’ Firstly, it won't feature Sam Worthington's Jake Sully narrating, but rather, Jake's son Lo'ak, played by Britain Dalton. Additionally, Cameron confirmed we will be getting a few new tribes added into the story, including the fire Na'vi.
There is of course Avatar 4 and 5, scheduled for 2026 and 2028 releases respectively. Avatar 4 has already been partially shot, but Cameron told the Los Angeles Times that he might direct a long-gestating passion project of his called "The Last Train From Hiroshima” before completing the fourth ‘Avatar.’
The Canadian director started working on the first “Avatar” movie around 1999/2000. From a filmmaking standpoint, it’s all he’s been concentrating on since then. That means that by 2027, Cameron would have almost exclusively worked on these ‘Avatar’ movies for nearly 30 years.
‘Avatar 3’ is set to open in theaters on Dec. 20, 2024.
Netflix and Skydance Animation have also called it quits. The two sides announced Monday that they're ending the animated film deal struck back in 2023, framing it as a mutual decision.