‘Avatar 4 and 5’ Are Going “Full Speed Ahead,” Producer Says

It doesn’t sound like we’re done with ‘Avatar.’

Just a few weeks ago, James Cameron hinted at the Saturn Awards that, although no official decision had been made yet by Disney, the planned fourth and fifth films were “very likely” to happen.

Now, ‘Avatar’ producer Rae Sanchini is telling Inverse that things are going ahead as planned, and if anything, they’re “full speed ahead.”

Right now we’re figuring out the schedule. We’re working hard on it right now, budgeting, scheduling, planning, building out our new pipeline for them. As far as we’re concerned, we’re full speed ahead.

Sanchini hints that the budget might be lower this time around due to “really moving into a more generally accessible platform,” unlike the previous system, Lightstorm, which was “very bespoke.” The new system uses “more generally available technology” and aims to streamline things.

As it stands, ‘Avatar 4’ and ‘Avatar 5’ have 2029 and 2031 releases, respectively, but Sanchini calls those dates “tentative,” and an actual schedule will be confirmed “in the not too distant future.” She also says: “We have the scripts, they’re brilliant. As far as I’m concerned, we’re heading forward.”

A recent Variety piece about James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” claimed that, despite grossing over $1.4 billion at the box office, the 2025 sequel had yet to make a profit for Disney given its extravagant budget and marketing costs. The film has earned $402M domestically, whereas the last one, ‘The Way of Water,’ earned $688M. That’s a noticeable dip. The worldwide tally sits at $1.485 billion, compared with its predecessor’s astounding $2.2 billion.

Cameron should really try to make something else before delving into ‘Avatar’ again—a franchise that has now consumed nearly the last 30 years of his filmmaking career. Maybe direct “Ghosts of Hiroshima,” or, hell, why not, tackle “The Devils,” or even that ‘Terminator’ reboot you keep mentioning. It’s time for a break from Pandora.