James Cameron took to the stage at D23 to tease ‘Avatar 3’ and the filmmaker revealed a new title for the film, “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
Cameron, who traveled from New Zealand, where he’s continuing production on ‘Avatar,’ told the crowd that ‘Fire and Ash’ has the "highest emotional stakes” of the franchise.
Cameron added “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will depict “New cultures and settings… you’ll see more of Pandora the planet than you ever see saw before. The new film isn’t what you expect, but it’s definitely what you want.”
2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” cost $400 million to make, and turned out to be that year’s most profitable movie, grossing $2.3 billion worldwide. In addition, it placed James Cameron as the only filmmaker in history to have three movies among the top 20 highest-grossing of all time.
‘The Way of Water’ was seen as a major risk by many in the industry, but Cameron proved them wrong, yet again. The result is that we’re going to get three more ‘Avatar’ movies, released in the next six years. ‘Avatar 3’ in December 2025. Additionally, ‘Avatar 4’ will hit theaters in December 2029, followed by ‘Avatar 5’ in December 2031.
More recently, Cameron confirmed plans for ‘Avatar 6’ and ‘Avatar 7.’ Cameron will be 76 by the time time the fifth Avatar is released in theaters. He’s going to be making ‘Avatar’ movies for the rest of his career. The good news here is that it sounds like he won’t be directing 6 and 7, he’ll be “passing the baton” to another filmmaker, or so he says. He’ll probably still have a major say in them.
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is set for theatrical release on December 19, 2025.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.