After receiving its MPA-approved PG-13 rating, the runtime for “Avatar: Fire and Ash” has been confirmed: 3 hours and 15 minutes. It’s the longest major studio movie of 2025.
Screening invites for ‘Fire and Ash’ are starting to be sent to the press for late November, with the 195-minute runtime indicated.” It’s again aiming for lots of Oscar nominations, and that’ll probably depend on reactions and reviews, which were mostly positive for the first two instalments.
So, we’re basically looking at a cut that’s three minutes longer than “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which ran 3 hours and 12 minutes. The first “Avatar” clocked in at 162 minutes. The ambition of these last two sequels has clearly kicked up a notch. Hopefully, it doesn’t actually feel as laborious as the runtime indicates.
“In a nutshell, we had too many great ideas packed into act one of movie two,” Cameron recently told Empire. “The [film] was moving like a bullet train, and we weren’t drilling down enough on character. So I said, ‘Guys, we’ve got to split it.’”
Right now, Cameron’s future depends heavily on the performance of “Fire and Ash” — if it’s a big success, he may move straight into “Avatar 4” and “Avatar 5.” However, rising VFX costs and questions about profitability could also push him toward taking a break, tackling smaller projects, or slotting in his WWII nuclear drama “Ghosts of Hiroshima” before continuing the saga.
This third “Avatar” comes with hefty expectations. “The Way of Water,” released in late 2022, cost $400 million to produce and turned out to be that year’s most profitable movie, grossing $2.3 billion worldwide. In addition, it positioned James Cameron as the only filmmaker in history to have three movies among the top 20 highest-grossing of all time. Will this be his fourth?
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is set for theatrical release on December 19, 2025.
In a new interview, James Cameron admits that he is considering which other stories he wants to tell, beyond Avatar, adding that he’s mapping out the “last act” of his career.