James Cameron might actually be done with “Avatar.”
A few months ago, the filmmaker admitted, “The [Avatar] movies are simply too massive, too expensive, and too time-consuming to keep making the same way.”
What’s interesting is how much Cameron’s language has shifted over the last few months. Earlier this year, he described “Avatar 4” as “very likely” but stopped short of fully confirming it.
Now, in a new interview, in connection with receiving the Governor General’s Prize in Canada, Cameron admits that he is considering which other stories he wants to tell, adding that he’s mapping out the “last act” of his career.
That’s the question of the hour for me. There’s been momentum in the Avatar universe for 21 years at this point because we started in 2005. It’s been kind of an unbroken continuum. So this is the point where I’m looking at the landscape and asking, ‘What are the other stories I want to tell? How many of them do I need to direct myself versus writing and/or producing with other filmmakers?’
Apparently, Cameron has built up a plan, going through all the projects he could tackle next and considering how each could improve the world and contribute to a better future for the next generation, particularly his children.
And the criterion—I’ve literally mapped this out for myself over the last two weeks—I started with, ‘What will do the most good?’ I put that in block letters at the top. And I started looking at all the projects I’m most fond of, asking, ‘How’s this going to improve our condition? How’s that going to make the world better for our kids?’
Has he come up with a firm commitment on what his next film might be? Not yet.
I haven’t made any decisions yet. I’m still in this liminal state of mapping out, you know, kind of the last act. And I don’t know if that last act will last a year or 20 years.
A few months ago, reports indicated that Disney and Cameron’s team were reassessing the economics of the franchise after “Avatar: Fire and Ash” earned around $1.49 billion worldwide—still enormous by normal standards, but slightly softer compared to the previous films. It doesn’t help that these films cost $400M or more to make.
Disney had initially committed to two more “Avatar” installments, slated for 2029 and 2031, but the studio doesn’t have any contractual obligation to proceed with them.
It certainly doesn’t help that Cameron is 71, and with the clock ticking, he might not get to pursue some of his other passion projects, which now seem to be top of mind for him. Has he finally quit making “Avatar” movies? It might seem that way. However, when it comes to Cameron, expect the unexpected.
In a November interview, Cameron admitted he was working on “10 different projects,” one of which is certainly “Ghosts of Hiroshima.” The others likely include projects he’s already mentioned in past interviews, such as “Avatar 4,” “Avatar 5,” “The Devils,” “Alita 2,” “Fantastic Voyage,” and “Terminator 6.”
The source material, for the uninitiated, is Arrowhead Game Studios' co-op shooter — muscle in power armor defending "Super Earth" from bugs and robots in a war game.