James Cameron may have created the planet of Pandora, but there’s a chance the filmmaker does not direct all of the Avatar films.
After the franchise’s game-changing first film, Cameron decided to continue the saga with four more stories, the first of which, Avatar: The Way of Water, hits theaters on Dec. 16, 2022. The third installment hasn’t been announced, but it’s slated to be released in December 2024, since it was filmed back-to-back with Avatar 2.
The fourth and fifth movies haven’t gone into production yet, but when they do, Cameron says he might not be at the helm.
“The Avatar films themselves are kind of all-consuming,” Cameron said in an interview with Empire magazine, adding that there are some other projects he’s developing that he’s excited about.
“I think eventually over time – I don’t know if that’s after three or after four — I’ll want to pass the baton to a director that I trust to take over, so I can go do some other stuff that I’m also interested in,” he continued. “Or maybe not. I don’t know.”
Despite being uncertain about whether or not he’ll direct the rest of the Avatar franchise, Cameron is looking forward to seeing the storylines play out.
“Everything I need to say about family, about sustainability, about climate, about the natural world, the themes that are important to me in real life and in my cinematic life, I can say on this canvas,” he said, sharing that he gets more excited with every new film in the saga.
“Movie four is a corker. It’s a motherfucker,” he said. “I actually hope I get to make it. But it depends on market forces. Three is in the can so it’s coming out regardless. I really hope that we get to make four and five because it’s one big story, ultimately.”