James Cameron has suggested his time making Avatar films may be coming to an end and he is now considering “other stories”.
The legendary filmmaker has directed all three entries in the fantasy/sci-fi franchise to date, most recently last year’s Fire And Ash, and two further Avatar films have already been announced, but in a new interview, he has hinted that he is now looking to move onto other projects.
He was speaking after receiving the 2026 Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement and was asked about what he sees next for his career.
“That’s exactly the question of the hour for me, because there’s been a lot of momentum in the Avatar universe for me, across 21 years at this point, because we started in 2005,” he said. “I took a little time off to build a submersible to dive to the deepest spot of the planet, as you do, but then I came back to Avatar after that and it’s been kind of an unbroken continuum.”
So this is the point when I’m looking around at the landscape and thinking, what are the other stories I want to tell? How many of them do I need to direct myself, versus writing and/or producing and working with other filmmakers?”
He explained that he has mapped out potential projects, pondering the question: “What will do the most good?”
“I started looking at all the projects I’m fond of and saying, ‘How’s that going to improve our condition? How’s that going to make the world better for my kids?’”
He concluded: “And I haven’t made those decisions yet, I’m still in this liminal state, mapping out kind of the last act, if you will. And I don’t know if that last act is a year or twenty years, but we’ll see.”
Avatar 4 and 5 remain scheduled for 2029 and 2031 respectively, and part of the fourth film has reportedly already been filmed, but after the release of Fire And Ash, Cameron implied that he now planned to “pull back from being as hands-on with every tiny aspect of the process”.
He also said in May that he would ideally like to make the next two films “in half the time for two thirds of the cost”.
NME gave Avatar: Fire And Ash three stars, noting: “The clarity, dynamism and sheer scale of the action is near enough unparalleled, and it’s hard to argue you don’t get your money’s worth. Still, Cameron is going to have to think outside the (Pandora’s) box and change the game for any future instalments.”
The 2009 original remains the highest grossing film of all time at over $2.9billion (£2.1billion), while 2022’s The Way Of Water sits at third on the all-time list with $2.3billion (£1.7billion). Fire And Ash was less wildly successful, but still performed well, grossing $1.5billion (£1.1billion).
