Avatar: The Way of Water is set to kickstart a series of Avatar movies through to Avatar 5 in December 2028, but after a 13-year wait for the sequel, it's fair that fans are sceptical about that release schedule.
While we'll have to wait and see how the sequel does at the box office to confirm whether we'll get through to the fifth movie, James Cameron does seem pretty confident that we'll be getting Avatar 3 as planned on December 20, 2024.
"We've already done the bulk of the work. We still have to go through the whole finish process with Wētā FX on Avatar 3. But I'm pretty sure that we’re going to be back here in a couple of years," he told Digital Spy.
One of the reasons behind the lengthy delay for Avatar: The Way of Water is that before production even started, Cameron wanted to have screenplays for all four planned movies done.
They'll combine to tell the overall story of the Sully family following the events of the first movie and, surprisingly, very little has changed from those original stories.
"It hasn't changed at all. We're right on course – assuming that we're successful, right? Obviously we've got to make a profit or we're not going to keep doing it and beating our heads against the wall," Cameron reflected.
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"But if we're successful, you know, movie three is in the can. Part of movie four is in the can. The rest of the script, I strongly believe in. I really strongly believe in the script for five."
He continued: "Now, that said, every movie is a journey. The last draft of the script is when you edit the film, and things move around, and things come out, and things that emerge as being really interesting get elevated.
"That's a whole other draft. And [The Way of Water] changed a lot in the editing process from the written page."
Cameron also spoke to Digital Spy about the desire to surprise the audience with the sequel, which has received rave first reactions following its world premiere earlier this week.
Avatar: The Way of Water is released in cinemas on December 16.
![Avatar Extended Collector's Edition [Blu-ray]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1665650766-51Fc2LeVmTL._SL500_.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Avatar Extended Collector's Edition [Blu-ray]")
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
